A320Flyer

LoL! Indeed...

Sailor

There is something magical about a new hire (instructor) giving you a PC or line check, only at spirit., priceless.

gatorbird

No new hire gives you a PC or a line check. Current captains at the the airline are the only guys qualified to check; the most junior doing so has around 6 years with the company. Check your facts.

Sailor

Thanks gator, very prompt of you, I was being sarcastic ...thanks for reminding me of checking my facts, so., got it. But you are correct, no new hires doing checks or line checks...but we do have or did have newbies go to the training dept, perhaps not checking but training...don't we?

PeopleMover90

I've heard some people getting on the line prior to their 2 years being up due to staffing need. And how's the teaching going? Call me crazy but how can a non typed/never flown a jet person teach airbus systems effectively? Not knocking it just wondering if it's actually working... I learn best by examples and something tels me if they haven't flown it's gonna be a lot of "check page 43 for that answer."

So Wonwee

FSI/CAE/et al do that all the time - teach having never flown the plane and it works fine there.

MikeF16

The USAF assigns guys straight out of pilot training right back to be instructors. Not a true never-flown-the-jet kind of instructor, but very inexperienced. With the proper training and the right individual, many of these first assignment IPs are better instructors than many of their more experienced companions. Often significantly so.

319wisperer

Agreed. It's quite common. In addition to FSI/CAE, I know United, American, and Frontier all have ground instructors that aren't/ were never line pilots.

Sailor

Wasn't talking about ground instruction, but who cares!! It's all the same anyway.

gatorbird

Sorry, didn't see the little "sarcastic" emoticon used...hard to see sarcasm through an iPad. The training dept has hired a couple of guys inside of a year with the company in the past (both with extensive training experience prior to); probably won't happen again as the bosses do see the benefit of at least a year on the property to acclimate to the airplane, operation, airports served and culture.

The greatest attention is given to hiring the right person/personality, regardless of longevity, seat or base. Although it has openly been said they'd prefer a FLL-based pilot, they will hire the right guy/gal outside of the mother base. This benefits all involved; the feedback the company gets (and on this forum) is that they're getting it right.

As for the promptness of my reply- sorry, I'll try to wait a little longer if you prefer. I usually save my APC reading for the john and your reply came right after dinner.

Now if you'll all excuse me, I've got to find my kneepads so I can loan them out to Ramrod and A320Flyer. Who's first?