Comprehensive New Hire Training Guide
05-30-2019, 05:26 PM
#1
Gets Weekends Off
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Apr 2013
Posts: 1,180
Comprehensive New Hire Training Guide
The Complete New Hire Guide to Spirit Training.
Hey everyone. We are going to be hiring a lot only folks and everyone always ask the question - what is training like? So I wanted to create this thread and share my newhire experience that is recent as of April 1 class date as comprehensively as I possibly can to help eleviate your stress before getting here.
This was my third 121 airline training program and I don’t care what anyone says, it really wasn’t that hard or this crazy horror story that a lot seem to have. Granted things have changed a bit, for the better, it seems than when my buddy went through 1.5 years ago.
Here we go!
Day 1 - Meet 8am at Corp HQ. A van picks you up from the hotel. You get your iPads, set up some apps and passwords. Various big wigs (depending on the day/week) stop by and talk with you. You’ll get a bit of Kool-Aid - the standard day 1 anywhere. They cater lunch which is nice. You will get your IDs by the end of the day. The van picks you up 4-430. It’s about a half hour ride from your hotel.
Day 2 - This starts Basic Indoc/General Subjects (aka death by Power Point). Meet at the Spirit Training Center 8am - 5pm. You get an hour lunch. There is a little cafe at the FBO next door, but not much else around. You can bring food and keep it in the break room as it has fridges and a microwave. There are also snacks/drinks you can purchase. There are THREE Tests/Assessments during Indoc. You will do your first of these three today. It is ridiculously easy if you have your basic limitations memorized, memory items and flows down as you are told.
It is 20-25 questions. All multiple choice. There are 10 or so limitations then the rest asking you about flows. Example - what comes after checking the Landing Gear Handle Down on the “Preliminary Mandatory Flow”? It is NOT hard. Trust me.
Day 3-5 are a repeat of Day 2. You will have your 2nd of your 3 tests on Friday Day 5. It’s nearly the EXACT SAME test. You might get asked 5-6 questions you weren’t asked on the first one. Again NOT difficult.
Enjoy your weekend off.
Days 6-10 - You will have either of these two scenarios depending on class size. You will either come in at 7am to 11am and do your CPT then have an hour lunch, and after lunch you spend the rest of the afternoon finishing Indoc/General Subjects from 12-4pm. The other scenario is you do Indoc/GS in the morning, have lunch, then do your CPT in the afternoon.
The CPT is done with the paper tiger, but with a MCDU/FMS trainer on a computer. You fly pretend flights from FLL to MCO and TPA. You practice walking in to a cold dark airplane and doing your flows and DIFSRIPP (acronym for programming the box). If you have your flows down you can do the entire lesson (both seats - once as PF and once as PM) in 2 hours when it calls for 4.
By the last day, Day 10, you have what is called a GATE Check. Basically showing that you can do all your flows and briefings, program the Box and need very little coaching.
Last, but not least, you have the 3rd test. It is exactly like the other 2, but a bit more questions. This is 50 questions and has maybe 10-12 basic systems type questions. Nothing too hard.
This concludes Week 2. Enjoy your weekend.
An important note about Indoc/GS. Absolutely NONE of any of what’s covered is tested on. The only 3 tests are the ones that I described above. Moral of the story is, these Power Points are all FAA Check the box. You DO NOT have to stress out or waste any ounce of time on these.
The only Power Point you should spend some time jotting down notes on, is the one that covers the release and TLR paperwork. Everything else like Weather, Aerodynamics etc is all FAA mandated crap.
I repeat. Nothing in all of Indoc is going to be on a test. Anywhere. I can’t say it enough. Don’t waste time worrying about this!
Day 11 - Will be emergency training done at a local Maritime academy pool. You get into the lift raft and jackets and mess around. Play with some fire extinguishers It’s fun. You will also do EET (Extended Envelope Training) and that involves listening to someone explain a ridiculously crazy Power Point with aerodynamic formulas and theory. You will do EET in the Sim as part of your training.
Days 12 thru 19 are CSIs or basically Systems Training. You do this while you do flights, just like you were doing in CPTs. This time, however, your flights are done in the Touch screen trainers so when you do your flows you are manipulating (sorta) real switches and knobs. You’ll have an actual side stick and PFD screen and can actually fly.
You will do the flights from a cold dark airplane to a city and back. Along the way (enroute) you will have system failures and they will teach you some systems type stuff.
The CSI Sim portion is 4 hours, but you meet 1.5 prior to brief. During the brief you will talk about whatever system is covered that day in a one on one lecture type format. So, while people claim you never have any real systems training here, you do. Its just different than doing it Power Point style in Ground School.
You have 8 CSI sessions. Just like the last day of CPT, the last day of CSI your expected to operate the flight gate to gate, both seats and do your flows and call outs without needing any assistance.
After your CSIs you’ll have a couple days off to get ready for the oral.
Day 20 - Type Oral
This is the oral guys.
Limitations
Memory Items
Proficiency Items
Fault Lights/Switches on the Upper Panel
If you come and know the Limitations and Memory Items down cold and don’t miss any, you’ve passed your oral.
The only scenario I can see is if you straight up don’t know a single Fault light or switch. The lights are not hard to memorize. Once your going through the lights they may ask you a bit more in depth questions. They know you have never flown this plane and are basically asking you to get your wheels turning and, ultimately, teach you stuff. The oral pass rate is 96% as of March data.
You will have anywhere from 2-4 days off after the oral then starts FTDs.
Day 21-24 - FTDs (Flight Training Device) This is just like CPTs and CSIs. You start from a cold dark airplane, do your flows, program the box push back, taxi takeoff and land. Except instead of a touch screen your in an actual sim (with all the switches). It’s a sim that doesn’t move. Enroute you’ll deal with ECAMs and other emergencies. A ton of this stuff is FAA check the box. You won’t be doing too much Bs like this on your type ride so just nod and smile and play the game.
After FTDs, just like the oral, anywhere from 2-4 days off. I had 4 off.
Days 25-29 are your 5 Full Motion Simulator events/training. After being in the FTD (which is a sim that doesn’t move) you will have a pretty good idea and won’t be too overwhelmed. Like all sims it doesn’t fly much like the real airplane, but don’t let it bother you.
Day 30 is your Type Ride or PC (if already typed). It’s probably not your first airline type ride so you know what to expect. Just like the oral the success rate is 93%. I can tell you with certainty these guys are fair. When my partner did their ride the guy was very fair, I’ll leave it at that.
Days 31 and 32. You do your EET sim (do stalls and some other fun maneuvers) then your standard FAA required LOFT. It was a flight from Vegas to San Diego and back. All normal to SAN with a small failure on the way back to LAS.
I had 8 days off before starting IOE.
That is training. Full disclosure I already had a Bus Type coming in, but truly, this was nowhere close to the horror story so many talk about. My non typed class mates are in agreement.
In the past, I think things were definitely a bit worse, but the format, as of April 1, really isn’t bad.
Last word:
Just like your welcome letter will state, show up with Limitations, Memory Items and Flows (both Captain and FO) down cold when you arrive Day 1 and you will have no problems. Trust me.
There are only 64 limitations and 5 or so Memory Items. They aren’t hard to get memorized.
Good luck everyone! PM if you have any other questions. You will all do just fine.
Hey everyone. We are going to be hiring a lot only folks and everyone always ask the question - what is training like? So I wanted to create this thread and share my newhire experience that is recent as of April 1 class date as comprehensively as I possibly can to help eleviate your stress before getting here.
This was my third 121 airline training program and I don’t care what anyone says, it really wasn’t that hard or this crazy horror story that a lot seem to have. Granted things have changed a bit, for the better, it seems than when my buddy went through 1.5 years ago.
Here we go!
Day 1 - Meet 8am at Corp HQ. A van picks you up from the hotel. You get your iPads, set up some apps and passwords. Various big wigs (depending on the day/week) stop by and talk with you. You’ll get a bit of Kool-Aid - the standard day 1 anywhere. They cater lunch which is nice. You will get your IDs by the end of the day. The van picks you up 4-430. It’s about a half hour ride from your hotel.
Day 2 - This starts Basic Indoc/General Subjects (aka death by Power Point). Meet at the Spirit Training Center 8am - 5pm. You get an hour lunch. There is a little cafe at the FBO next door, but not much else around. You can bring food and keep it in the break room as it has fridges and a microwave. There are also snacks/drinks you can purchase. There are THREE Tests/Assessments during Indoc. You will do your first of these three today. It is ridiculously easy if you have your basic limitations memorized, memory items and flows down as you are told.
It is 20-25 questions. All multiple choice. There are 10 or so limitations then the rest asking you about flows. Example - what comes after checking the Landing Gear Handle Down on the “Preliminary Mandatory Flow”? It is NOT hard. Trust me.
Day 3-5 are a repeat of Day 2. You will have your 2nd of your 3 tests on Friday Day 5. It’s nearly the EXACT SAME test. You might get asked 5-6 questions you weren’t asked on the first one. Again NOT difficult.
Enjoy your weekend off.
Days 6-10 - You will have either of these two scenarios depending on class size. You will either come in at 7am to 11am and do your CPT then have an hour lunch, and after lunch you spend the rest of the afternoon finishing Indoc/General Subjects from 12-4pm. The other scenario is you do Indoc/GS in the morning, have lunch, then do your CPT in the afternoon.
The CPT is done with the paper tiger, but with a MCDU/FMS trainer on a computer. You fly pretend flights from FLL to MCO and TPA. You practice walking in to a cold dark airplane and doing your flows and DIFSRIPP (acronym for programming the box). If you have your flows down you can do the entire lesson (both seats - once as PF and once as PM) in 2 hours when it calls for 4.
By the last day, Day 10, you have what is called a GATE Check. Basically showing that you can do all your flows and briefings, program the Box and need very little coaching.
Last, but not least, you have the 3rd test. It is exactly like the other 2, but a bit more questions. This is 50 questions and has maybe 10-12 basic systems type questions. Nothing too hard.
This concludes Week 2. Enjoy your weekend.
An important note about Indoc/GS. Absolutely NONE of any of what’s covered is tested on. The only 3 tests are the ones that I described above. Moral of the story is, these Power Points are all FAA Check the box. You DO NOT have to stress out or waste any ounce of time on these.
The only Power Point you should spend some time jotting down notes on, is the one that covers the release and TLR paperwork. Everything else like Weather, Aerodynamics etc is all FAA mandated crap.
I repeat. Nothing in all of Indoc is going to be on a test. Anywhere. I can’t say it enough. Don’t waste time worrying about this!
Day 11 - Will be emergency training done at a local Maritime academy pool. You get into the lift raft and jackets and mess around. Play with some fire extinguishers It’s fun. You will also do EET (Extended Envelope Training) and that involves listening to someone explain a ridiculously crazy Power Point with aerodynamic formulas and theory. You will do EET in the Sim as part of your training.
Days 12 thru 19 are CSIs or basically Systems Training. You do this while you do flights, just like you were doing in CPTs. This time, however, your flights are done in the Touch screen trainers so when you do your flows you are manipulating (sorta) real switches and knobs. You’ll have an actual side stick and PFD screen and can actually fly.
You will do the flights from a cold dark airplane to a city and back. Along the way (enroute) you will have system failures and they will teach you some systems type stuff.
The CSI Sim portion is 4 hours, but you meet 1.5 prior to brief. During the brief you will talk about whatever system is covered that day in a one on one lecture type format. So, while people claim you never have any real systems training here, you do. Its just different than doing it Power Point style in Ground School.
You have 8 CSI sessions. Just like the last day of CPT, the last day of CSI your expected to operate the flight gate to gate, both seats and do your flows and call outs without needing any assistance.
After your CSIs you’ll have a couple days off to get ready for the oral.
Day 20 - Type Oral
This is the oral guys.
Limitations
Memory Items
Proficiency Items
Fault Lights/Switches on the Upper Panel
If you come and know the Limitations and Memory Items down cold and don’t miss any, you’ve passed your oral.
The only scenario I can see is if you straight up don’t know a single Fault light or switch. The lights are not hard to memorize. Once your going through the lights they may ask you a bit more in depth questions. They know you have never flown this plane and are basically asking you to get your wheels turning and, ultimately, teach you stuff. The oral pass rate is 96% as of March data.
You will have anywhere from 2-4 days off after the oral then starts FTDs.
Day 21-24 - FTDs (Flight Training Device) This is just like CPTs and CSIs. You start from a cold dark airplane, do your flows, program the box push back, taxi takeoff and land. Except instead of a touch screen your in an actual sim (with all the switches). It’s a sim that doesn’t move. Enroute you’ll deal with ECAMs and other emergencies. A ton of this stuff is FAA check the box. You won’t be doing too much Bs like this on your type ride so just nod and smile and play the game.
After FTDs, just like the oral, anywhere from 2-4 days off. I had 4 off.
Days 25-29 are your 5 Full Motion Simulator events/training. After being in the FTD (which is a sim that doesn’t move) you will have a pretty good idea and won’t be too overwhelmed. Like all sims it doesn’t fly much like the real airplane, but don’t let it bother you.
Day 30 is your Type Ride or PC (if already typed). It’s probably not your first airline type ride so you know what to expect. Just like the oral the success rate is 93%. I can tell you with certainty these guys are fair. When my partner did their ride the guy was very fair, I’ll leave it at that.
Days 31 and 32. You do your EET sim (do stalls and some other fun maneuvers) then your standard FAA required LOFT. It was a flight from Vegas to San Diego and back. All normal to SAN with a small failure on the way back to LAS.
I had 8 days off before starting IOE.
That is training. Full disclosure I already had a Bus Type coming in, but truly, this was nowhere close to the horror story so many talk about. My non typed class mates are in agreement.
In the past, I think things were definitely a bit worse, but the format, as of April 1, really isn’t bad.
Last word:
Just like your welcome letter will state, show up with Limitations, Memory Items and Flows (both Captain and FO) down cold when you arrive Day 1 and you will have no problems. Trust me.
There are only 64 limitations and 5 or so Memory Items. They aren’t hard to get memorized.
Good luck everyone! PM if you have any other questions. You will all do just fine.
05-30-2019, 07:05 PM
#4
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2013
Position: to-go plate at hotel buffet
Posts: 802
Day 1 to day 32, how many days did it take to get to that point? I see enjoy the weekend stuff during indoc, if they're giving pilots 2 days off in a row now during it I think that's great.
05-30-2019, 08:25 PM
#6
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2008
Posts: 1,723
Originally Posted by BeechedJet
Day 1 to day 32, how many days did it take to get to that point? I see enjoy the weekend stuff during indoc, if they're giving pilots 2 days off in a row now during it I think that's great.
05-30-2019, 09:08 PM
#7
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2017
Posts: 162
Maybe move the disclaimer that you already had the type to the beginning... I had the privilege of going through an initial already having the needed type. Couldn't understand why my classmates weren't out with me every night...Sounds like your partner had a different experience given their performance during the type ride..
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