Just about the Fed ride for upgrades, not that many guys are upgrading these days.

Is it basically an observation or does the jumpseater ask many questions? What happens to the guys that fail? Is it worse than a checkride failure? I would think with a Fed riding in the jumpseat, any screw up leading to a failure could really bite you in the butt!!

i'm no expert (not a check airman authorized to do fed rides), but i'll tell you about mine:

at my company, there are check airman authorized to do fed rides, so sometimes an actual fed does them, sometimes it's a company check airman. in my case, it was a company check airman. he did not ask any questions. he sat and observed. he checked all the paperwork. he debriefed me after it was over. it was very simple and straightforward. not a "checkride" mentality at all. i'd passed all the checkrides and had done enough ioe to have them do the fed ride, so he just wanted to see how i handled being a captain, i guess.

hopefully there are guys on here with more insight than i have, but i wanted to at least share my experience with you.

That's exactly my experiance. They just sit and watch. Check paperwork and debrief afterwards. I have heard of some people failing and having to do more ioe but I think it's rare.

They just want to make sure you are good decision maker and how you handle yourself. FYI they look just as hard at the check airman to make sure he has trained you in all aspects. As a former check airman ive had Feds debrief me after the observed Captain is gone. Its no sweat if you dont get signed off its just an IOE Leg. Just relax.

Here are some good tips. Know what documents the FED has to have to ride the jump seat (review FOM). Give a nice jumpseat briefing . Offer the Fed a bottle of water or a drink from the galley. Above all they are just doing their job too.

Because Mesa is frugal, the Fed ride and company line check are often combined. In my case, a company check airman rode in the right seat, and the FAA inspector in the jumpseat. Neither asked questions during the flight and gave me a thorough debriefing when it was over.

Mine was with a qualified check airman and no different than a stan ride or line check. He and the IOE guy were more anxious to get done and go home.

Its merely a line check with a Fed on board (or your company check airman). You just have to prove you can follow your SOPs. So don't talk about the FA's you want to bang below 10,000 ft. Just remember though, the 434 will always cause some sort of irregular scenario.