Spirit Airlines Training
 

I’ve heard rumors that Spirit’s training isn’t very good. Does anyone have any insights on this rumor?

They expect you to show up day 1 already knowing your flows and most systems stuff (they give you the material in advance). The instructors are great but just have to show up knowing most of it.

lol....

it’s not set up to spoon feed you... they expect you to take initiative and learn the material yourself and ask questions if you need to clarify something.

if you didn’t know it going into training, you’re still not going to know it after you complete training.

but you will know your flows, memory items and limitations if you successfully complete training and nothing else.

that goes for new hire training and upgrade training.

Limitations, Memory Items and Flows with callouts prior to day 1. For flows if you can point at the each switch in the correct flow order that will be good enough to start training. The rest will be easy if you have those three things down.

I wouldn’t say the training isn’t good. If you are a loner and don’t participate in group studies, you will struggle. The company doesn’t baby you, but if you put the effort in, they will reciprocate if you need a little extra help.


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Never heard anyone say the training isn’t good. It’s fast paced and like others have said you must study before day 1 as they don’t spoon feed you like the regionals.

Spirit training is fast paced and relentless. You need to show up knowing flows (CA & FO), the main profiles and callouts, and all the memorization - COLD. Like sit in front of a paper tiger and do flows with your eyes closed. Bang out limitations & memory items before the question is finished - not be searching for them in your mind.

If you are this prepared, then training will be chill and in the evening you can sit by the pool, drink beer, and relax and breeze through it. I did, and it was only my 2nd type - and I breezed through with no stress. Those who show up expecting to learn during training don't make it.

You only get 5 sims before your type ride - from both seats. My regional was up to 13 sims and still had a 20% washout. at NK, not so much. There is not much time off between things.

All that said, the training is top notch. The Sim & FTD instructors are fellow pilots, and are top notch. No one is out to "get you". They want you to succeed - if YOU ARE PREPARED.

Hands down best training I’ve had in any flight department. Plenty of events to feel ready for the checkride and if for some reason you are struggling, they work with you to get you comfortable and add events if needed. Our class only had 1 guy struggle (older guy) and they gave him a LOT of chances to catch up.

super organized, clear goals and expectations, and they don’t hand you the books and expect you to know everything when you show up. Most instructors are reasonable and not terribly old.

I’ve heard it’s been bad here in the past, but it’s great now. Pass rate in 2019 was above 92 or 94% IIRC

if you show up day 1 knowing only the flows and limitations, the entire process will be easy

Not a Spirit pilot, but I have done lots of airline training ranging from old school “build the airplane” weed out regional days, to gentle hand holding major airline training.

The whole “group study” being required for success is a myth. Some people need to be spoon fed by their peers, but it sure isn’t necessary if you have good study habits and you practice flows with your sim partner. Personally, I find group study a tremendous waste of time and don’t ever do it (group beers/dinners are another matter!)

Just to emphasize though, practicing flows/call outs/checklists with your sim partner is incredibly important.

Spirit Airlines Training
 

I wouldn’t call it a myth. The two guys who washed out of our class were loners. I agree some can be alone and study and be prepared. I would venture to say most benefit from a “group” study session. Group can be defined as 3/4/5/10 people whatever works for you.

Seems most classes had study groups.


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“Loaners”........
really?
No rent-to-own options?

Forgot about the grammar police.

Apple loves to mess with me, got to love the autocorrect option on these phones.


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Agreed, group study never worked for me either. Seems like study sessions always got side tracked, so I always just studied alone and never had an issue.

Everyone studies differently. Show up prepared and understand that Spirit doesn’t spoon feed you like regional training departments. I would usually self study for a couple hours then meet up with people and drink beer and “group study” by the pool.

If you are so stressed you can’t relax or have a couple beers with your classmates everyday then you’re going to burn yourself out.

Here is my post, from awhile back, with a full breakdown of training and what to expect from when I went in 2019.

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 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 (2016-17)

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 now, 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.

IMHO you can succeed by studying alone or in a group. If you show up with the flows/limitations/memory items down cold, the rest is an absolute breeze and you can pass studying 60-90 minutes a day at the hotel. The only people I saw struggle were the 50+ year olds who couldn’t get over “well my last airline did this...” or “why does it matter if I say ‘check’, this is ridiculous”

Just for clarification, when you guys say limitations, does that include the “proficiency items” also?
Like the procedure for wind shear or stall warning at lift off, etc...
Trying to get everything committed to memory, but have limited bandwidth ha!! Don’t want to try and memorize something that doesn’t need to be just yet.

Stick with the 5 memory items to start off with. You need flows, memory items, limitations and profiles / callouts. Once they are all down, then go to proficiency items if you have time.

Don't do any CBTs.

I found that keeping a healthy mind the whole way through was much better conducive to studying than any group study, which wasn't too bad either. Proper nutrition, limited sugar, allowing youself time to exercise even if its only for 15 minutes, maybe a nootropic or 2 if you're in to that kind of thing, not taking too much advantage of the free alcohol and getting good quality sleep all go a long way towards success. I feel like this factor is often overlooked when discussing ways to get through training.

A long day in the classroom can be quite mentally fatiguing and makes you not want to do anything for the rest of the night. All I needed was a quick sprint on the treadmill to reset my brain juices and then easily got another few hours of quality study in every night.

Also don't go partying and gambling in the casino every night. The company tends to find these things out.

Pretty broad stroke there, amigo. Mind telling us about the rumors you've heard?

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I tried to read past where you said "free alcohol" but couldn't. Where the heck did you stay? lol. In class last March we were happy to be able to find food at all.

When I went through pre contract, the footprint start to finish was around 40 days. I think we started 6 days on, 1 off, 6 on, 1 off and then 5 on. That was a rough stretch, barely enough time to take a dump let alone recover. Those first few weeks were brutal. Once the oral was passed, it was back to a typical normal training pace. I had a little less than a month before class started to prepare myself. I think the problem the struggling new hires faced was either not fully preparing themselves for the start of class or accepting a class date that gave them little time to prepare. I remember people getting hired and going to class four days later.

I feel like the training department has done a great job addressing the time constraint issues and making the program a lot less hectic. The stories of the old ways seem to be getting less and less common. I would say from what I hear on the line flying with new hires, there has never been a better opportunity to successfully pass our training program than there is today.

If you ask me, here is the order of importance for day 1

1. Flows (Absolutely must know them cold)
2. Limitations (be at least 90%)
3. Memory Items (be at least 90%)

bonus is proficiency items but that’s really no big deal you have plenty of time for that after starting, and they aren’t touched for the first few weeks.

Systems you kind of just self teach along the way, that’s where you are kind of on your own although they touch on it a good bit. Don’t bother reading the AOM, it’s awful for learning systems compared to the guides and study Q’s.


Training here really is a pleasant experience.

Personally, I treated the proficiency items as memory items, and they’ll be asked as such in subsequent orals.

Also memorize the crew coordination statements and add them to the front of the respective memory and proficiency items.

For example, Stall Warning at Liftoff memory items should be proceeded by the crew coordination statement “Stall Toga 15”.

Also keep in mind that it’s not a verbatim quote of the bold item and small print or bust.

The hotel I stayed at for new-hire training had free dinner and choice of beer or wine on Mon-Wed. We would request and be handed wine by the bottle. Never had a group of young airline pilots gotten so trashed during training without registering a single complaint from the hotel staff.

Whoa, they either changed hotels or the hotel got more liberal with their freebies.

There were a finite number of classes that stayed at the Residence Inn while the Peruvian football team took over the Sheraton.

The Sheraton out in plantation was a great spot to stay during training because of the suburbia environment with minimal distractions. I don't think I would've passed staying in Fort Lauderdale or anywhere near the beach with the level of talent walking around in South Florida ;)

I too would like to hear about these ‘rumors’.... A very good friend of mine told me Delta’s training is worse than ours.... My jaw dropped, but I trust his assessment as he’s been through every training program I have (minus Delta for me)....

Been a while for me but the training dept here and our instructors are all pretty damn awesome. New hire training was not really that stressful and I’m not all that smart. They tell you exactly what you need to know and will help those who need it. The biggest thing is dont be an a##hole and you’ll have zero problems. We have a great group of instructors who actually care. Lastly, welcome aboard! Greatest job you’ll ever have. Great crews, great CPOs, great bunch of ALPA reps, new Airplanes (that are no longer grenading themselves) and a mgmt team that for now seems to be working well with the Union and is doing a good job managing the Pandemic. (Also they have done a legitimately good job cleaning up our reputation/product)

lastly, if you want to fly with the best crews in the world, ya gonna wanna bid ACY 😄

this right here - well said. We all learn differently - don’t feel obligated to attend if it’s not your learning style!!! Also one step prep by the spirit pilot was a huge learning asset.

I’m looking to start shortly with Spirit (pending). Does 1stepprep from the spirit pilot have a link? I looked on their page and considering buying the yearly sub so I can start studying.

the study material provided by spirit is all anyone needs to get thru training

Agreed, his stuff isn’t anything ground breaking

Use the A320 cockpit app

The Ethos app covers that stuff and is company provided.

didnt have that when I went through. At least not a working version.

True.... But the 320 app is available before you go to training. I used it to learn the limitations and flows before I went to class

this. Great for teaching flows and testing yourself on systems knowledge.

Again, Ethos. Please don't learn a system before you go. Just say THR RED ALT and on day one you'll learn what that means. Ethos has full systems and buttons when the time comes. I too bought the 320 cockpit app and regret doing so because of Ethos.