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Training issues at SKW

Old 01-11-2019, 09:27 AM
  #21  
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Originally Posted by captive apple View Post
This was in part why our pay rose mid agreement while classes were full. We now have people here who should never have made it through training.
Elaborate?
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Old 01-11-2019, 09:45 AM
  #22  
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Originally Posted by captive apple View Post
This was in part why our pay rose mid agreement while classes were full. We now have people here who should never have made it through training.
You think sapa and the company are that coordinated to pull that off?? And instructors were not EVER told to let anyone through the cracks... your statement is false.
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Old 01-11-2019, 09:59 AM
  #23  
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Originally Posted by PhotoFlyer View Post
Thanks for the encouragement. I actually used up my extra sessions. I really did enjoy the whole experience even though I wasn’t able to finish. I made some great friends and most of the instructors were fantastic. My flows and callouts were a little behind. Everything “clicked” for me but it happened just a little too late. I put a business and family life on hold to do this and have to evaluate whether I want to do it again. I love to fly and may look for a local gig or something else on the west coast. I have no regrets for the time I spent at SW and would consider giving it another shot. A friend just got through E175 training and is enjoying it and telling me I should come back😁

Common enough for folks new to 121 to not quite get there (especially if you're older, the neurons just don't fire as quickly as they used to). If you come back to the same plane you should do fine (at OO or another airline).
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Old 01-11-2019, 10:02 AM
  #24  
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Originally Posted by amcnd View Post
You think sapa and the company are that coordinated to pull that off?? And instructors were not EVER told to let anyone through the cracks... your statement is false.
I've only been at SKW for six months and change, and still learning lots of things about the business, the 121 environment, and so on. However, my previous gig in engineering/engineering leadership provided me with a lot of valuable knowledge that is still helpful. For example, often we are tempted to judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions.

I can't help but wonder if something like is what is behind mr. apple's statement.

I've made mistakes on the line, and have learned from them, thanks to gracious captains who were willing to share their knowledge. I've also flown with captains who have made mistakes on the line and learned from them, graciously, after I've suggested that something wasn't quite right. And, I've flown with one or two captains who believed they could do no wrong while acting in direct contradiction to the SOPM (full reversers down to taxi speed with > 2000' of runway remaining for example) but even there I learned something from them. Fortunately the latter seem to be few and far between at SKW. Almost everyone is great to work with.
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Old 01-11-2019, 10:06 AM
  #25  
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Originally Posted by wrxpilot View Post
I absolutely hate the commonly told advice that you must study together in groups. Yes, that works and is apparently necessary for some people. But for others (myself included), it’s completely unnecessary and actually counterproductive. I’ve always touched base with my sim partner, and for sure the two of you MUST practice flows and call outs to be successful. But studying together? Not necessary.
I'm the same way but most people are not. I show my face at the group session occasional just so I don't miss out on any tribal knowledge/jungle drums, or get a reputation as a non-team player.

Yes, absolutely must do flows and profiles with your sim buddy (or somebody if you don't have a sim buddy).

Originally Posted by wrxpilot View Post
Now that I’m at a major, I agree that SkyWest has a fantastic training program (much better than the place I ended up at). It’s challenging in that there’s a lot of stuff covered, but if you put in the effort it’s very reasonable and I have witnessed the training department bend over backwards to help people that are struggling. I’ve also seen people that showed up with an entitled attitude get their butt handed to them.
I did multiple training programs on multiple types at OO. If you can't get through it's either attitude/effort, or you need more experience.

Originally Posted by wrxpilot View Post
I will say there are a couple of SLC CRJ instructors that have reputations. I’ve had the two most notorious ones on several occasions for CQ. But even with them, as long as you were humble and put in effort, it was fine.
Yup. Had both, if you're prepared it will be fine. Those guys are old school, they expect pilots to have backbone, so sit up straight, look 'em in the eye, and speak with confidence. The folks who get in trouble with them are the ones who show up hoping to throw hail marys to santa claus...
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Old 01-11-2019, 11:49 AM
  #26  
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Originally Posted by Aviator2019 View Post
Looking to find out if anyone out there has had issues with the training procedures at SkyWest.

We had 7 hirees (thus far) resign and/or fail the November class. It was very clear that the company didn’t care to put forth any effort to assist those who were having difficulties, and left much to be handled by whichever students were willing to head-up study groups (in our class’ case, there were none). The company loves to pledge assistance, but the “help” they offered us was the advice “You either get it, or you get out.”

To all potential people looking to sign on with SKW, there are some stringent rules that the company adheres to, and will absolutely not deviate from:

“Three strikes - you’re out” policy, even if you are struggling and have asked for help. (in my case, my sim partner resigned, and I was not given a replacement to work with)

SKW considers “failure” to be anything below 80% (even on internal tests and exams), and accumulating 3 failures throughout the training program (even on small company tests) results in a termination on the pilot’s PRIA report.

Struggling during FTD / Sim means that they will intentionally limit the amount of help they will offer. You’re allotted exactly 10 hours of extra instruction, and to exceed this will result in a termination (again, on the PRIA report).

I feel very strongly after going through the SKW groundschool that the training department is run on fear. Anyone going into SKW should be aware of these policies and take a long, hard look at which airline they’re choosing. These are things I wish I would’ve known. SKW prides itself on having a very positive, caring culture for its employees, but their actions do not foster this kind of environment. Instead, they seem to pride themselves on the number of pilots who don’t make it through the program.
To me, it felt like it was a "free for all" while working on PV, MV & LOFT with different instructors. All of them are trying to teach their "techniques" while trying to follow the SOPM. Where's the standardization? How are new hires supposed to follow the SOPM & FOM when the lifers are teaching new hires their old ways? this to me is a big issue, but this what happens when you go train at the largest regional in the industry.
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Old 01-11-2019, 11:52 AM
  #27  
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That also happens at smaller carriers that use flightsafety instructors lol. Standawhat?
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Old 01-11-2019, 12:03 PM
  #28  
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Work hard, study & don’t spend all your few time at Lofte’s. SkyWest is running new hire classes in excess of 100 per month and most of them do pass. To the OP, if you do go to another airline, blaming the company will get you nowhere fast. Push yourself, ask questions, write emails to the training department if you have to...do your due-diligence.

Good luck!
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Old 01-11-2019, 12:04 PM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by Nevjets View Post
Industry leading? Is the training, train to proficiency? Is there the ability to get a different instructor? Is there the ability for a union rep to observe a training session? Is there a training review board? Those are all things that are standard at most unionized airlines.
I went through training at a unionized carrier and at SKW, the training at SKW was considerably better, FWIW.
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Old 01-11-2019, 12:11 PM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by Aviator2019 View Post
SLC on the CRJ
What’s your flying background & TT?
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