Airline online CBT
 

The airline I work for implemented quarterly online CBT this year. Previously it was once a year prior to reporting for training.

I just completed the first quarter training and tallied up the time it took me to complete. I didn't complete it as fast as I could have, however, I didn't spend as much time as I would have liked to thoroughly refresh on some of the topics.

Total time for completion was 2.68 hours. We are paid for completion of the training at I believe .87 hours.

It's a shame pilots of the past were duped into only being paid for flight time and not for the entire time they are required to be at work (or duty time). That's a topic for debate elsewhere however.

My airline has a 2:1 duty rig. In training we are essentially paid per that duty rig. 4 hours for an 8 hour day. If I had just clicked through the slides that would allow me, taking the minimum time (you have to wait for the videos), I'm sure that it would have taken atleast 2 hours. Still not getting paid for atleast half of the time it would have taken.

I know this is an issue to take to the union. I'm here because I'm curious if this is standard at other non major airlines, or any airline for that matter?

Same at my airline as well. It's funny cause I thought the same thing. I just got done with recurrent ground school. It was 8 hours and we got paid for 3.7 I believe. How in the world did that ever become an accepted practice?? Hey you gota be at work for 8 hours but were going to pay you for four?? What other skilled trade job does this occur in?

I think prisoners get paid for 8 when they work 8. This industry never ceases to amaze me.

Don't waste your breath with the union, ha ha. Here's why...

Pilot hourly rates evolved being unusually high compared to other hourly workers. The idea was that the block pay was supposed to also account for the non-flying work we do before and after flight. In theory this should be a fixed and thus predictable ratio of flying/non-flying work. When we do ground-only work (including training), the assumption is that our hourly rate is way too high for us to get paid straight time, hence the 1-for-2 pay.

Where the theory doesn't work (and why we have rigs) is during delays or schedules with multiple short legs. The people most subject to this inequity are almost invariably junior pilots flying smaller equipment. A 737 pilot flies more shorter legs with more un-paid ground time than a widebody (ie senior) pilot who typically does one maybe two very long legs in a day. This example is even more severe when comparing a ten-leg turboprop day to a single trans-pacific leg.


So a senior pilot, in addition to higher hourly rates also gets paid for a much higher percentage of his duty time.

Ten-leg 14-hour turboprop day (00:40 legs) = .47 hours paid/hours worked

One leg 14-hour widebody day (13:00 leg) = .93 hours paid/hours worked

In addition to his hourly rate, the widebody pilot multiplies that rate by almost a factor of two compared to our prop pilot. Not to mention he's sleeping in the bunk for part of his one leg!

Since the system is so skewed in favor of seniority, don't be looking to the union for a quick fix on this one. This is definitely one boat the senior guys don't want to rock ;)

No, I don't like CBT...after a certain incident I'm not letting any leather-bound women near my pants.

No thanks Jeff.

Good explanation Rick. Stuff I never knew.

At least you get paid for the CBT. We have to do it here and don't get paid a cent. I try to get them done on my overnights so at least I earn some per diem for doing it.

Weellll, ooookay then. :eek:

Where is the party this weekend? ;)





(Saluki, I wonder how many of us understood that without the aid of Google?)

At my airline we're required to report one hour before our first flight in domicile and we are released fifteen minutes after blocking in. I've always assumed that long haul pilots were required to report even earlier (an hour and a half or more). Even if I could do a 13:00 leg, I'd still have to work for 14:15. And I'd assume it's more like 14:50-15:00 for a 13:00 leg. Even with that your general point is correct.

Took me two searches. The first one was about cognitive behavior therapy. The second one made a lot more sense.