Being an insturctor at the Big Three
 

I was wondering how one becomes an Instructor at AA/UA/DL ? Also, I was wondering if instructors are put on the pilot seniority list. At my regional airline, instructors are on the pilot seniority list on day one. However at JetBlue, the departments are separate and you are not put on the seniority list, also you are not in CASS so commuting is not possible.

If you work at AA/UA/DL, could you share your insights on being an instructor and if you can ever fly the line?

Delta has two types; Seniority list IP's who were hired as pilots, and have moved into the training dept. and who will someday return to flying the line full time (and they must fly line trips one out of three months while instructing). Most of them are F/O's.

Then there are 'Non-Seniority List IP's' many of whom are retired Delta pilots, the do not fly line trips, but do some observation flights in the jumpseats.

There are a few NSLI's who never were Delta pilots, but very few, and they are not put on the seniority list, and do not fly trips, just observe.

JB does have guys hired as pilots who now instruct. They have seniority numbers, and have to fly 2 legs a month.

US used to have FO IPs which were just regular line FOs who went into the Training Department. We then had Check Airman doing the checking events (MVs, SPVs, etc). Then APDs who did the type rides.

Now under the New American, the FO IPs are going to be replaced by Sim Ps, which are non-seniority list pilots (mostly retired) who come in and do your training up to your MV (Maneuvers Validation) then the Check Airman take over up to your type ride.

Ground school and Procedures Trainers have always been taught by non-seniority Ground School Instructors or FCTIs (Flight Crew Training Instructors).

The non-seniority instructors do not get a seniority number.

And if I'm not mistaken they only really do that first week of training and procedurea training, not the simulator, amirite?

I know one of the 320 instructors is a expressjet FO and one of my 767 guys 8 years ago was a full time cop.

80ktsclamp, you know anything about this "Schoolhouse Instructor" topic? :)

Correction

Two days a month.

Why does AA have to do things so odd compared to other carriers in almost every area.

Doing it that way both lowers the value of the training and costs pilot jobs. :( Our biggest issues at DL with standardization is with them... and it's not their fault. It's a function of having someone that doesn't fly the line teaching line ops.


What Timbo described at DL is true.... right now on my fleet there are around 14 CA instructors (and APDs), 17 FO instructors, and around 20-25 non-seniority list instructors (about half of which are qualified in the full motion sims, the rest of which are procedures trainer only).

In our latest contract negotiations, we are trying to recapture more instructor slots back to line pilots as the old retired pilots that are now NSLI's retire (again).

Non-instructors are not allowed to seat fill in sim sessions (although it is allowed for a line pilot to volunteer for that in the contract, it is flight ops policy to not utilize that section), and for checkrides only seniority list instructors are allowed to seat fill.

If I'm not mistaken, but on the mid 90's contract wasn't that seen as a "give" by letting pilots that weren't CA's be instructors?

It was a long long time ago, and before the interwebz was such an effective tool of information. But it seems as if I remeber that as I was sitting on a dumper by the LGA crewroom at the terminal by the blast fence, and there was all the printed literature about was was given up on that contract and what was wanted back in C 01.

Doood, you have no idea.