For those looking at an upgrade in the near future, come prepared for a 'slam dunk' program.

You'll get four sims that cover the same material that the initial course covers in eight...so have your flows, callouts, and profiles down pat. There just isn't enough time to redo very many areas.

The check is a full blown FAA type ride. If you are a first time ATP candidate, you will do steep turns and the Emergency Descent in addition to everything else. Emphasis is on PIC decision making and 'command presence'...not just on flying maneuvers from the left seat.

Good luck.

Is that for everyone or for pilots already qualified in the aircraft? I was under the impression that guys going from the 145 to the 170 or vice versa had to do the whole nine yards over again (8 sims, plus Check Ride and LOFT).

Sorry...I wasn't clear.

This is the upgrade syllabus for those FOs already qualified on the 170.

A Captain from another type of aircraft will go through the initial (not upgrade) course, and that's the 8 ride plus check plus LOFT syllabus.

wow, that's even shorter than trans states crappy 5 sim sessions for capt. upgrades. Hope your training is better than ours...but as i recall, i believe it is.

Attrition and hiring rate remain the same, it will be close to 20 months realistically. This will be the case come late spring early summer. A person with 20 months during said time will be half way up the list. Also, we all know some people will not upgrade right away or may be holding out for specific equipment. 18 months may be a good number.

For those that come to upgrade prepared, you'll want to take the ride after sim 2. 4 sims are very realistic if you are already qualified on the aircraft and have done your homework.

I agree...that's probably true for most.

In addition to having the Captain flows, and maneuver profiles and callouts down, I recommend folks hand fly some departures and approaches. One recent failure came when the candidate was unable to maintain altitude within tolerances.

"Autopilot on" after takeoff is not the way to go. Try flying the plane every now and then. Hand fly the approaches for once.

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Had bedford in class today and he says that upgrade is going to drop two weeks every month and that 83 captians are being called back to US Air. Also with in the next year the EFB's are going to start getthing certified in the 170's

I'll believe something he says when I see it actually happen...so far, no luck...