Right on point...our check airman group is tops here, I can't think of anyone on the list that is a headscratcher. But then again, we've got a pretty stellar pilot group as it is.

Hearing stories from friends at other airlines, I'm glad I'm here...it could be worse, lots worse.

 

I also had a great experience at 9E. LCA met up with me two hours before the first leg of a 5 day. He had a checklist type form to go over and we went through some manuals and talked about some company policies and procedures. He flew the first leg for me to observe, I flew the rest. IOE was a lot of fun, learned some good techniques and felt confident.

 

I had no idea how to read flica and in my defense everyone told me we only did American flying out of ORD and there was a departure on our metal at the same time to the same destination on American. Got a call from scheduling 35 minutes prior asking where I was and then I was "that guy" running across ORD to the United terminal.

The LCA was really cool and told me to slow down, it didn't matter we were already late. The flying part went real well and we shot the shiz pretty much the whole time. I think I made him too comfortable because I tried for my best carrier landing and he had to intervene. Whoops. Day two consisted of heavy snow in ORD and my first time landing on 9L. I had absolutely no idea where I was on the taxi diagram and completely butchered the read back ...a few times. I feel like the training did a real good job preparing me for the line, but the sim sure lands nothing like the actual plane.

 

After all those sim sessions, it was amazing to me that an engine didn't fail, no warning lights or other problems.

 

As someone who has recently gone through an IOE cycle at a new airline on a new jet after years of being a regional captain, the experience wasn't much different from my first 121/jet IOE. Still holding on to the tail feathers, still not sure what to do after 20 minutes without a fire or failure, still learning the ins and outs of policies and procedures as they apply to the line, getting a feel for the operational tempo, etc. And also a thoroughly humbling and enjoyable experience.

 

My FO IOE and Capt IOE at CP were excellent. Both check airmen were knowledgeable, fair, and easy to get along with. My FO check airmen recognized my previous jet time and treated my training as such. He is now at UA. My captain check airmen was one of the lifers. Also recognized my previous experience and treated me as such. I had a comfortable training environment in both scenarios.

 

Just to add, my first IOE at QX (I was with PSA for over 5 years prior) was a miserable experience. Not because I did anything terribly wrong or the LCA was a bad guy (quite the contrary, in fact). It was because the first Q400 I ever flew was the UW plane. I nearly called off.

 

At least it's not the duck plane. I dont think I've flown any other A/C with more MELs and consistently broken ****. "Hey guys, we know the APU and autopilot are broken and its 100* outside, but can you do a spokane turn?" "Nahhhhhh."

 

How about the Broncos plane? That thing is garbage. The right PFD looks like it was washed with a coffee soaked rag and there seems to be a concerningly large build up of grime on everything.

453 is nice...

 

Wait, what? Did that in the 145 for years and never had an issue.