There are no scheduled observation flights. You just jumpseat. I think they say they’d like to see you doing two a week. No one checks tho.

And these are done after LOE and waiting for IOE.

Got it, thanks. I hear the wait on the CRJ is 6-7 weeks (though I'm on the ERJ and have no idea what the LOE>IOE gap is). Not typically annoying to have a new hire observe (assuming they stay quiet and don't slow anything down)?

I’m not familiar with erj new hire waits but for erj upgrades they are seeing anywhere from 1-4 weeks for IOE.

We have jumpseaters all the time. Come with questions and in your uniform if you want to do the walk around with the FO.

You can literally just show up to the gate and list for the jumpseat.

Do observation flights annoy you line pilots?No.

Adding to the info provided from previous people...just got our training schedules for 1/25 CRJ class and it is as follows:

Indoc 1/25-2/1
Stay in SLC for CBT’s for 6 days
Ground 2/7-2/18
Sims 2/22-3/15

We asked the question about observation flights every week for 6 weeks or whatever we thought IOE wait was in training. They told us no and only 2 flights total were required now.

Only small pieces of advice I'd give for people doing observation flights is: Check the flow board for a shorter turn (like ORD-GRR, GRR-ORD) since the cruise time won't give you many insights. If you're CRJ, try for it in the 700/900. CRJ Jumpseats these days, with winter pax weights and winter weather alternates, make it hard to have a JSer and stay within weight and balance.

We were told (May 2021) observation attire is business casual or uniform, same as JS attire, but may have changed. List like you would for the JS, introduce yourself to the crew, ask the CA for a ride and explain you're doing observation flights for training. Everyone should be cool with it.

On the flip side, a longer cruise portion allows for more Q&A with the crew outside of Sterile Cockpit rules.

I assume at some point during ground we'll get our KCM credentials. I know there's something to be said for resting you brain, but if we have a couple days off during training (I won't be going home), is there anything preventing us from hopping in the JS for a quick turn to observe?

It's too bad they don't schedule in an observation flight or two during training before finishing sims so you can put the picture together.

You will receive your KCM badge along with your crew badge. Don’t do an observation flight if you only have a couple days off. Had a friend who did it and was really, really, very close to not making it back for class.