If you’re a CFI or Commercial Pilot considering the next steps of your professional pilot career and are thinking about moving on to your first air carrier. There are a few important things you need to consider before making the leap. You must develop your foundational knowledge, study and prepare to prevent the odds of washout during systems training.
STRAP IN
If you’ve ever wondered what Airline Pilot Training was like? It starts like this… You’re either a CFI or a Commercial Pilot who meets the Restricted ATP Minimums or the full ATP Minimums of 1,500 hours. You start submitting applications to your first few regional airlines or your preferred 135, 91K or Fractional operator, if the airlines aren’t your cup of tea. It’s all very exciting and scary at the same time. FINALLY! You get your first call and go in for the interview. You nail it! They hire you on the spot. Next, you get a new hire class date, do your PRIA paperwork, then start to prepare for Indoc (which stands for indoctrination) and aircraft systems training. This is where things can get hairy.
As a former CFI or Commercial Pilot, there’s a sharp learning curve involved when you arrive on Day 1 of Indoc, followed by systems training. Unfortunately, everyone experiences this “drinking from the firehose” style of teaching. This is a common training strategy used on new hires which ultimately allows the airlines to pile on as much information as they can fit into a short three to five-week long training program. This process allows greater training efficiency, and helps to weed out the weaker trainees who aren’t experienced enough, didn’t prepare enough, or quite simply aren’t meant to succeed in such a program. By forcing you to drink from the firehose, the airlines are able to save money earlier on by weeding out the trainees who aren’t going to make it early on in the program versus doing it once the trainee gets in the simulator.
THE WASHOUT FACTOR
This leaves the ATP Applicant (you) feeling bewildered, scared, and confused… You might be thinking “am I going to make it?” You’ve probably heard stories of people “washing out of the program” because they couldn’t pass the Knowledge Validation (KV) or weren’t learning at the same pace as the rest of their classmates. Not everyone learns the same way and unfortunately, the airlines don’t care… The airlines are not in the business of creating an Individual Education Plan (IEP) for each trainee. They are in the business of pushing as many trainees through their program as they can. This is especially true now with the shortage of qualified pilots willing to do the job.
There are no secrets here. ATP Applicants washout of airline training frequently. It’s an unfortunate result of either a poor training program or the result of the applicant lacking the foundational knowledge required to be successful during training.
Washing out and subsequently being terminated from an air carrier is very bad news.
HOW TO PREPARE
While training failures do happen. At FlightCog, we believe these training failures can be actively prevented by teaching an ATP Applicant the foundational knowledge they’ll need to be successful, before starting a training program at their first airline. This is why we have created the Airline Transition Program.
The Airline Transition Program consists of 13 total courses designed to bridge the knowledge gap between the CFI/Commercial Pilot and Airline Pilot knowledge level. This program will provide the applicant the foundational knowledge they’ll need to successfully pass the complex aircraft systems training they’ll begin learning after passing Indoc.
You might be thinking…
The information you’ll learn inside of the Airline Transition Program will be fully applicable to any turbine-powered jet aircraft you’ll ever touch throughout your whole professional pilot career. Our program will enable you to show up at systems training with a basic understanding and familiarity with all of the complex terms and concepts the airlines are going to feed you from the FIREHOSE. Our program will increase your chances of successfully passing airline training without a failure on your PRIA record.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
The Airline Transition Program has been developed by airline pilots for the future generation of airline pilot applicants. The program is rigorously designed to transform complex terms and concepts into simple, manageable, and digestible chunks of knowledge that are easily assimilated by a new pilot transitioning from GA to a more advanced transport category aircraft.
Remember, washing out of airline training could have serious adverse effects on your aviation career. Invest in yourself and enroll in the Airline Transition Program by FlightCog, today!
To discover what you’ll learn in the Airline Transition Program, check out the full course catalog here https://flightcog.io/airline-transition-courses/