There's always "more to that story" than just a lateral move after a training failure. I know guys who are at Mesa after a "training failure" elsewhere that shouldn't have been a failure, hands down. One for a FTD flight that wasn't even a checking event.

I hear from folks I trust that Mesa's training is good, as well as fair. And I am sure that in every contract airline (probably at every major and LCC as well) there are folks who slip thru the cracks that shouldn't.

Mesa's pay and benefits may be pretty low, but I know some top-notch pilots who work there. Not everyone who moves to Mesa is a training failure. Far from it, I'd wager.

I've heard people say this, but most of my personal friends that have recently been hired at united and delta made a lateral move, and many of them got the interview within a year or less of the move. Its almost to the point that I wonder if going through a second training program on a different airframe looks good, like makes the applicant look more adaptable and trainable.

Just remember, most people will lie when they fail a training event to make themselves look better. What really happened and their version of the story is quite different.

Do you really think that people would come out and say: "Well, they gave me an extra 2 sim sessions, and I am such a crappy pilot that I still couldn't figure out how to fly a non-percision approach. Oh, and I was also an obnoxious prick to the instructor and sim partner. They offered me a chance to go back to and try again, but I told them to **** off".

Because someone failed out elsewhere and did well at Mesa does not necessarily mean that the other company was too hard. It may mean that Mesa is too easy. In truth, it is probably a little of both.

Id actually heard somewhere else that they (Majors, LCC, etc) like to see a training event, like a type or upgrade within 5 years of being hired. I would imagine its like any job. If you go in for an office job somewhere and youve held 5 jobs in the last 6 years, you should be prepared to answer why. Im sure its no different. If you have a ready made speech about how you moved, or got divorced etc etc, then im sure its not going to rule you out at another carrier.

Im of the feeling, I just dont want to do 1 more basic indoc course than I absolutely have to.