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Old 03-31-2014, 10:04 AM
  #4621  
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Originally Posted by OneEye View Post
Actually, I did what you do. I viewed his post history and observed he had training problems at RAH and was terminated. The pilots in that forum ate him alive. I'm sure there is some truth in his posts but I'm just as sure there is also some fiction thrown in.
I've had about all I can take...

Just stop! You and your antics have effected and ruined the careers of many a good PDT pilot. If it were up to you there wouldn't be a qualified line pilot left on the entire face of the planet just because they didn't know the serial number and date of manufacture of the nose gear door actuator on their respective airframe.

Your "old school" tired and done to death build an airframe mentality is no longer wanted, needed, or valued in the industry. Check airman such as yourself don't elevate the profession, they degrade it. And you FAIL to realize that fostering a training environment based on intimidation and fear of job loss creates a NEGATIVE training experience. You aren't making better pilots, just stressed out and scared ones.

After your history of taking out your personal vendettas against pilots you had personal problems with some of whom never even did what you blamed them for you should be sued or at the very least removed as a PDT cka. You certainly should not be the manager of AQP at an airline.

I mean you throw around the word professional as your mantra and enforcement engine all the while acting worse than the people you criticize stalking the forums looking to data mine identities of posters just so you can throw them to the matt in the sim because they called you a "dumb dumb" or the PDT training department unfair and ridiculous on the the internet.

So leave the board sir..everyone here knows who you are...stop looking for victims and let pilots do what they do best..complain..without taking it personal...you are creating a conflict of interest regarding your management position...and if you can't see the lack of professionalism in that ..then well that is truly sad.
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Old 04-01-2014, 07:49 AM
  #4622  
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So the PDT training department gets to screw with people's lives and remain intact while pilot candidates get the shaft. HMMMM....This sounds like a job for Super-Fed!!
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Old 04-02-2014, 01:33 PM
  #4623  
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Originally Posted by boeingsky View Post
Well I have been down in training now for 3 months and have some news coming directly out of CLT home of the glorious training department here at Piedmont Airlines. S*i* is hitting the fan after a whole new hire class walks out on the ground school after being accused of cheating on the take home QPT test. Another class also in training at this time, was shaken down for gouge info. Literally forced to open their personal belongings, notes, folders and backpacks so that certain people in the training department could inspect the content.

Three people out of the class initial class i mentioned were accused of cheating on this take-home test and were shipped up to SBY today. When told to pack their "sh*t and go to SBY" the rest of their class got up and walked out on the instructor. Training department told management that they did not walk out so as to cover up all the bull that has been going on with captain upgrades and new hires alike. One of the three being accused was a mid 30’s black female fed (which the training department did not know) The two others are retired from the big iron but have heavy pull.. Also in this class is a 777 DE, retired state trooper and a former WWE wrestler. The training department got belligerent with these guys and they fought back. 4 different fisdos have been called on all these matters. The class that has walked out on the training department is mostly likely to resign as a whole within the next two days.

As for me I have had a whole different situation going on but was also asked to resign today due to reasons that I will explain later in a different post that I am preparing. I am going to share my training experience so as new hires can make a educated decision before coming to Piedmont. It will be of interesting reading for all the ROA and MDT based pilots out their. In the end both incidents are connected in a way. I will be posting all of my experience and my recommendations for those that do choose to come here so that you can be successful. It is a difficult program because it is made to be. More info on that later but Kutos to the pilot group they are a great bunch of guys.
Its very disappointing yet not surprising that this caca is still going on. I was at PDT a little over two years and I loved flying the Dash 8, great Airplane at least when its not hot out. I enjoyed the crews and had some great times as a PDT pilot, but reading this makes me glad I made the decision to head for greener pastures.
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Old 04-02-2014, 03:38 PM
  #4624  
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Originally Posted by OneEye View Post
What's more shocking is that some of you believe this stuff.
Mike,

You have a few great instructors in your schoolhouse and I never had a problem with training while I was at PDT, However I was always a nervous wreck walking in to the training center because of the general reputation that PDT Training holds. So much in fact when I came out of the sim each time I did not feel as if I had learned anything but I had dodged a torpedo one more time and could keep my job one more year. This is not what a training experience should be like, and now that I am at another 121 airline with a training department that has a much different mentality I realize thats not what all training departments are like.

I realize that there are bound to be some bad apples that pass through as a new hire and are not cut out to be a 121 pilot. The same applies to upgrades, not everyone is ready for the left seat and it would be irresponsible for your training department to allow these people to slip through the cracks. So I understand that failures in some capacity are inevitable in all airline training departments. It is also true that a certain amount of prerequisite skill and knowledge must be brought to the table by each pilot for a job that holds this much responsibility. That being said a training department at a 121 airline should be a place to enhance a pilots skill and knowledge level allowing them to become safer and more proficient, that should be the ultimate goal.

Unfortunately the PDT training department seems to be used more as a disciplinary tool than anything else, and I think most of the PDT pilot group would agree with me on this. Having this type of hostile environment does not create an environment were learning occurs. What it does create is a place where a pilot puts there career on the line annually when they go in to the "evaluation department" and hopefully escape as quickly as possible, unharmed. For many pilots due to fear of reprisal questions are not asked and if done early unused sim time is not used to brush up certain skills. It does not have to be like this.

Adding to the already hostile environment in place is the personal vendetta that trainings upper management seems to take on any one who speaks up about the complete lack of professionalism taking place. It is as if the PDT training department prides themselves on having a high failure rate and thus fostering this hostile learning environment. What good you think this old school crap does is a complete mystery to me.

Perfect examples are the JK speech from last fall when not surprisingly, the upgrading captain that spoke up about having an entire group cussed at failed upgrade, or the new hire class back in the fall of 11 that got a completely new "modelin systems test" because they had the study materials that your F...ing training department provided them. If studying company provided information in an attempt to be successful is a real problem to you why did you give it to them on that zip drive to begin with? The result was over half the class being forced to resign. And finally why does the training department constantly data mine these forums seeking the identity of anyone here trying to inform and warn others whats going on in your schoolhouse?

In my tenure with PDT I felt that JK was without a doubt the main problem with the entire culture in place at PDT Training. In fact at my new airline a few of the instructors who had met JK at some kind of AQP conference or meeting commented on what an arrogant prick he is, so its not just me. And personally I never had any problem with you but after hearing the stories from everyone else and seeing how you so admittedly come on here and defend this behavior I have to wonder if you are not just as much of the problem.

You shouldn't be surprised that people believe the truth, the power of social media has spread the word about the reputation and practices involved at PDT Training to a larger audience than ever before. This does do a great deal to dissuade new hires from coming to this airline. I would think that you, as the manager of Piedmont AQP, would want to restore that reputation. Coming on here and defending what many already know to be highly probable given trainings past practices only cast a darker shadow over your department. The clean up needs to start internally by actually changing practices and improving the experience that PDT pilot have passing through. Then perhaps there will not be so much on this forum for you to get defensive about.
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Old 04-03-2014, 09:31 AM
  #4625  
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I believe the poster on how his checkride went 100%. I believe him because I have had JP for a lot of CQ/checkride events and he's done some of the same things to me (although I took drastically different courses of action in the sim). The original pirep of the checkride has been moderated so if I get a detail wrong or misrepresent anything that happened I am sorry, that is not my intention. I am just trying to offer the OP some insight into what JP wanted to see done (right or wrong). FULL DISCLAIMER: I am not in the training department, I am not an instructor or check airman at Piedmont. Anything I say below is simply to give some context to someone who is obviously lost on where things went downhill on his checkride. It is in no way advice on future CQ rides for PDT people nor a truth... just my GUESS on what the instructor probably was looking for.

First off, almost every time I have had a ride with JP, he has the wrong fuel on the plane when you get in the sim. This is intentional because we continually have people push off the gate with the wrong fuel. The OP caught the wrong fuel which is good, but when the fuel is wrong you don't call dispatch. All you do is call the ops frequency and request a fuel truck to come back. So maybe JP wasn't answering/hearing your calls to "dispatch" because you should have just asked for a fuel truck. Then after you caught the error and he said "ok it's fixed" it wasn't him trying to trip you up again. He's done this with me before and its his way of saving time and moving the lesson along. IE. You caught the error great job, let's keep moving. Whether he changed the fuel on the airplane or not it is ok to assume that the fuel is correct at this point.

Ok so now the OP takes off and is using the KNS to go to the first fix. Great job no problems there, I would have just blown off John if he said you were "dead reckoning" to the fix. I don't know what he is getting at with that but you could always ask for a vector if the KNS/UNS isn't functioning. JP then gave you a vector and you noticed the roll jam. Again great job catching it there. I've had the same thing happen to me... I get the sim trimmed up and then the instructor has to turn me to notice a control jam. If I remember right you completed the non normal checklist and then wanted to return for a straight in to some runway in PHL. Now, I don't remember if you declared an emergency or not, but control malfunctions should be declared an emergency (IMO). HERE is where I think your big mistake came in. JP is HUGE on "good solid CRM" and Capt/Pilot authority. When you declare an emergency the airport is yours. Period. Almost EVERY time with JP, when you declare an emergency and return to the field he will either give you something other than you requested or try to give you delay vectors or try to put you behind another plane etc. All these scenarios will be directed by "ATC" and would prevent you from getting to the airport ASAP. DON'T ACCEPT THOSE. That is the key, that's what he wanted to see. You mention how challenging the approach entry was that you had to walk your partner through how to set it up and fly some complex entry. Kudos on getting the job done, but this is what you should have said: "Negative Philly approach, PDT XYZ has declared an emergency we need vectors DIRECTLY to (the final, the numbers, the ILS etc). Get everyone else out of our way." And then flown your straight in approach. He wants to see the command authority, that you won't be talked into doing something stupid by ATC or a weak Capt. when things hit the fan.

I don't remember the rest of the checkride except the part about ppl walking into props. Again this is another classic JP thing he does (I know because he has done it with me). When the Captain sets the parking he wants you to IMMEDIATELY start your flow and flip off the seatbelt sign. If you take your time and do the flow slowly, then when you turn off the seatbelt sign he will pop the passenger door (as if the flight attendant thought it was the double chime). Again this has happened to me so I've been slow on the flow too. BUT when I did it, I saw the warning light flash, noticed the passenger door and slammed the condition lever to fuel off. Then when JP started yelling at me for shutting down the engine incorrectly I defended myself by saying the door opened and I didn't want to kill people. Big cheesy grin on his face when I said that.

Again, I don't know if any of these things is enough to fail you out of training. I have seen these things pulled in the sim but I never had an unsat because of them and they were hardly mentioned in the debrief. I heard a story on the line once that back in the day JP was flying through some turbulence. He told the flight attendant to sit down and she did. However later in the flight she got up again and then injured herself. JP blames himself for this because he didn't tell her to sit and STAY down. That is why he harps on good solid crm and pilot authority. When I heard that story it sort of makes sense/puts into context why he is the way he is. As a new hire the instructors at PDT are very intimidating. They love to run you down, make you feel worthless, make you feel like you don't deserve to be there and aren't professional. I felt the same way going through indoc as you did (never been treated like less of a professional). However, I had a thick skin and let it roll off my shoulders because I knew that I was a good instrument pilot and never let them make me second guess my decisions.

Everyone on here is absolutely right. Our "AQP" is a joke compared to the other programs out there. This old school mentality does not foster a positive learning environment nor does it make any pilots safer or smarter. Honest to God I was talking to one of our instructors and he said and I quote "Our job isn't to teach." I wish I was joking. PDT doesn't have a training department they have a testing department. If you can get in the sim and fly the approaches and maneuvers to standards you pass. If you can't they don't give you advice on how to do better. This thread is already full of posts describing the difficulty and training environment at PDT. Note to potential new hires. We aren't joking and we aren't exaggerating. It is TOUGH training, the manuals are a mess (say two different things in two different places on the same topic), and the instructors won't cut you any slack.
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Old 04-03-2014, 09:53 AM
  #4626  
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Originally Posted by FlyingBoiler View Post
Everyone on here is absolutely right. Our "AQP" is a joke compared to the other programs out there. This old school mentality does not foster a positive learning environment nor does it make any pilots safer or smarter. Honest to God I was talking to one of our instructors and he said and I quote "Our job isn't to teach." I wish I was joking. PDT doesn't have a training department they have a testing department. If you can get in the sim and fly the approaches and maneuvers to standards you pass. If you can't they don't give you advice on how to do better. This thread is already full of posts describing the difficulty and training environment at PDT. Note to potential new hires. We aren't joking and we aren't exaggerating. It is TOUGH training, the manuals are a mess (say two different things in two different places on the same topic), and the instructors won't cut you any slack.
You forgot to add if you tick any of them off personally, justified or unjustified, you get the "double super secret special version checkride scenario" that is the Kobyoshi Maru test of the 121 world...it's unpassable. But in this version it's NOT a test of character. It's the precursor to you being asked to resign or face the TRB and subsequent termination.
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Old 04-03-2014, 10:03 AM
  #4627  
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If my goal is to fly 121. Is there any real difference if i resign from a company versus being terminated? If i washed out of training doesn't that taint my record for a future 121 employer no matter what?
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Old 04-03-2014, 10:16 AM
  #4628  
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The way its supposed to work is if you resign you are not required to report a "training failure" to a perspective employer. It's only a failure if it's a termination due to training failure or an actual failed "pink slip" checkride.

Though it's been reported by some that PDT places an "initial program training failure" on one's PRIA at times even after a resignation vs termination but I have no personal confirmation of this.
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Old 04-03-2014, 12:39 PM
  #4629  
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Originally Posted by Magpuller View Post
The way its supposed to work is if you resign you are not required to report a "training failure" to a perspective employer. It's only a failure if it's a termination due to training failure or an actual failed "pink slip" checkride.

Though it's been reported by some that PDT places an "initial program training failure" on one's PRIA at times even after a resignation vs termination but I have no personal confirmation of this.
I wonder if that is illegal... Falsifying documents?
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Old 04-03-2014, 01:52 PM
  #4630  
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On most applications (especially 121 applications), they WILL ask you "Have you ever failed a training event?" To which (in this case) the answer would be "Yes".

If you don't, you will be required to answer why you were with company X for only 2 months...

I always recommend being completely honest and having them reject you up front, rather than lying, being pulled out of class and having to explain to your next potential employer: "Terminated due to failure to truthfully disclose reasons for prior termination".
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