"how long is training?"

From the day I started Indoc until the day I took my checkride was 1 day under a month. Most airlines take at least a month and a half to do the sam e amount of material. You will do 10 days of Indoc, 7-8 days of systems, about 4 days of sim, and 4-5 days of flight training (yes, you will do V1 cuts and single-engine approaches IN THE AIRPLANE). After that, you will have about a 4-5 day trip to complete your IOE.

"what can I do to prepare for it and what is the cause for the wash-out rate?"

When you accept a class date, a packet of system limitations and emergency memory procedures will be mailed to you. Memorize it completely and verbatim. Also, make sure your instrument skills are sharp. Take a 172 up and fly a full NDB approach, a circle, an arc to a VOR, and a hold, and fly them back to back to back at 100 kias, keeping in mind that you will be doing them at 160 kias in the Beech. The sim is very sensitive, and it will be glaringly obvious if your scan sucks.

I would say that the biggest reasons for the washouts are:
1) Lack of experience and maturity among new hire candidates. This is the first airline job for almost all of the new hires, and there is a ton of material that they have never seen or heard before.
2) The shear volume of material covered in a minimal amount of time. This is the definition of firehose training. Like I said earlier...what most airlines cover in 6-8 weeks, we cover in 4. A typical daily schedule in training looks like this:
0700: wake up (earlier if you need to do some last minute studying)
0800: class starts
1200-1300: lunch
1700: class ends
1730-1800: dinner
1800-0000: study non-stop
You will probably only get a total of about 3 days off during the entire training period, and, if you aren't from the Denver/Cheyenne area, you won't be able to go home during training.
3) The company wants to see you sweat a little bit, so they put some pressure on you. The interview was just the beginning, you need to prove yourself in training. They have very little invested (financially) in you up to that point, and if you can't cut it during training, you definitely won't be able to cut it on the line, so they are willing to cut their losses if need be. Remember, your hire date is your checkride date, so you aren't even an employee during training. This makes it very easy for the company to cut bait. It's not very difficult to find another pilot to replace you that can start next month.

"what is a typical schedule like...do you do 4 on 3 off or something like that?"

That would be really nice if it was. You get 10 days a month off guaranteed...and that's all that's guaranteed. Oh yeah, and if they need you, they can junior man you on your days off.

[QUOTE=FLYBOYMATTHEW]
Pros:
- fastest upgrade around, sometimes in less than a year,
- you will build time fast (you can fly up to 34 hrs/7 days, 120 hrs/mo, and 1,200 hrs/yr)=QUOTE]


just and observation but doesn't FAR limit you to 1000hrs a year???

[
That would be really nice if it was. You get 10 days a month off guaranteed...and that's all that's guaranteed. Oh yeah, and if they need you, they can junior man you on your days off.[/QUOTE]

When you say they can "junior man you on your days off" does that mean it can cut into that 10 day Minimum. How long do you think it would take me to build up enough "seniority" for them to stop doing that?

Yes is does, both domestic and flag operations are limited to 1000 hours per year.

KiloAlpha,... You should review 121.470 if you think Lakers are flying under 1000 Hrs per year under 121 Domestic ops...........because they're not.

Oh yeah, i guess a B1900 doesnt meet the requirements for part 121.

does anyone know where the interview for great lakes is and how you get there? do they fly you there?

121.470 permits Lakes, and other airlines flying 30 seats or less, to comply with 135.261-135.273 with regards to flight time limitations and rest requirements. Yes, it is still a Part 121 airline, but the Beech and the Brasilia both meet these requirements.

A fat line may be blocked to about 95 hours or so, but there are also high-speed (a.k.a. stand up overnight) lines that are blocked at about 45 hours for the month. You can legally fly up to 120 hours per month, 34 hours in 7 consecutive days, and 1,200 hours per year by picking up open time if you choose.

Interviews are held in Greeley, CO, which is just north of Denver. I believe the policy is that they will fly you in on Lakes from one of the cities (towns?) we serve, but I think it's your responsibility to get to one of those cities.

i heard that Great Lakes no longer flys the Brasilia..is that fact or fiction?

Fiction as of right now...I have never heard that?