Living the Airline life: 9 stages of Airline training

Receiving your commercial pilot license is a great day for everyone. It’s an end to a long, tiresome journey. At last, the sleepless nights and endless preparations have paid off.

But, just when you think you’ve reached the summit, you realize, all you’ve managed to do is reach the base camp. While, getting that license is a big milestone, the best and the worst is yet to come!

Time to bid goodbye to the beautiful Cessna 172 (or 152) and say hello to the mesmerizing jet engines.

Those who are starting their airline journey and wondering what to expect in this next phase of your career, READ ON !

1. TYPE RATING:

   Whoever said foundations matter, was right on the money. These 1-2 months of your airline training is marked by dense information in a limited period of time. Being your first introduction to your highly sophisticated aircraft, this could lead to overwhelm and anxiety.

What to expect ?

• Approximately 60-70 hours of ground classes/ e-learnings/ workshops

• 5 FBS sessions

• 9 FFS Sessions

• Technical and Performance written exam

• Day and Night check, IRPPC

**These values may change from time to time

How to get through it?

• Invest in a cockpit poster to familiarize yourself with the cockpit

• Read the FCOM, FCTM and QRH ahead of time (if time permits)

• Know how to read a checklist. Most QRHs include “checklist instructions.” Read this thoroughly to perform better in sim sessions.

• Use online sims to improve motor skills

• Watch YouTube videos on systems of the aircraft

• Focus on the basics

2. AVSEC and DGR:

   Aviation Security (AVSEC) and Dangerous Goods (DGR) trainings may be conducted separately from airline ground training as per slot availability. This depends on whether your airline conducts these in-house or from a third party.

   
   

What to expect ?

• AVSEC typically takes 5 days, to be repeated every 2 years

• DGR takes upto 2 days, to be repeated every 2 years as well. Along with a written examination, this now includes an oral exam.

How to get through it ?

• The lectures might get monotonous, but be sure to make notes as these will help you clear the exams.

• The exams are pretty straight-forward multiple choice questions.

3. GROUND CLASSES:

   Once you have been introduced to your aircraft, it is time to get introduced to your company and the policies unique to your company. Airline ground classes revolve around company SOPs, CRM and EFBs.

What to expect ?

• 1-2 months of ground classes all day covering topics like Technical, Performance, EFB (electronic flight bag) usage, SOPs, Joint CRM with cabin crew, Poise training, Special Operations and more.

• This is a great time to understand and take in the company ethos.

• There might be back to back examinations on all topics.

• In addition to FCOM, FCTM and QRH, now Operational Manuals also need to be studied.

How to get through it ?

• Study study study

• Prepare notes in class

• Practice performance sums everyday as it might be the most tricky.

4. SUPERNUMERARY FLIGHTS:

   Up next, you move on to supernumerary flights. These are typically about 10-30 sectors and may be divided into pre and post sim. Here, you will occupy the observer seat in the flight deck and learn the practical aspects of everyday jflying. DO NOT take this lightly as what you notice on the observer seat is going to make a ton of difference in your SLFs.

   
   

What to expect ?

• 10-30 sectors covered in 1-1.5 months

• Here, you are given a list of discussion topics which need to be signed off on every flight

How to get through it ?

• Make notes on what and how the first officer performs his duties. While in Type Rating, you may be used to a certain flow, in practical flying things might be quite different. However, this isn’t to say that you should learn things that aren’t SOP.

• Ask to do RT and cockpit set up. During my SLFs, the thing that I most struggled with was RT. No matter how well spoken you may be, RT is different from day to day conversation and requires practice. Do yourself a favor and learn it early.

• Prepare discussion topics and ASK questions.

• Make a mental note on the one thing you want to get down on a particular flight. Do not try to learn to everything at once.

5. SIM SESSIONS:

   Depending on your airline, you will be positioned for simulator sessions before, in the middle or after your supernumerary flights. The order doesn’t matter however, this is (hopefully) the only place you get to practice your non-normal situations. In addition, you will also prepare for specials operations like RNP, LVTO, EDTO etc.

Subject to sim availability this can be accomplished in a week or two.

What to expect?

• 2 FSTD sessions (for practice), CRM LOFT (crew resource management), AWO (all weather operations) LVTO (low visibility take off), RNP (required navigation performance), CAT II/III operations, UPRT (upset prevention and recovery training), STOL (supervised take off and landing) are among some of the sessions you might have to do.

• This phase is not only knowledge intensive but also practically tricky as mostly you’ll have a long gap between your last sim session in TR and this session.

• Sim delays can lead to gaps in flying leading to loss of currency.

How to get through it?

• Every session has a form with a detailed profile which will be followed in that same sequence. Go through your entire profile.

• Practice alone, then do it with your sim partner. It is essential to do every session twice. Personally, I like to do my study work by myself and practicals with my partner. Carry your cockpit poster for practice.

• Reference all your information to FCOM, FCTM, QRH or OMs. * Here, I would like to specify something important. No matter what your airline, a good pilot always knows his sources. Do not rely on what you heard or what someone said, know where the references are. This way, you can never be wrong and if cross-questioned, you have your references to back you up.

6. BASE TRAINING/CHECK:

   Like so many of my colleagues, I had a lot of misinformation about this, in particular. A base training can be viewed as a transition from the sim to the actual aircraft. With a duration of 1-2 days, you accomplish 6 take offs and landings on an actual aircraft. This is one of the most fun days in your airline journey, as this is one of the only times, you see an aircraft without passengers.

What to expect?

• A group 3 trainees, 1 trainer and 1 safety pilot are given an aircraft (non revenue flight). Each of the trainees will then perform 6 take offs and landings at an aerodrome which has given prior permission to do so.

• The trainer generally assists the trainee during manual flight.

• These may be all visual approaches.

How to get through it ?

• HAVE A TON OF FUN: this is probably the first time you’re flying a jet !!

7. SLF RELEASE CHECK:

   Before you commence your SLFs, you might be required to give an SLF release check. Like any other SLF, this is a revenue flight, at the end of which, the Captain may sign you off to begin SLFs. Depending on the airline, this may include only 1 PM sector or one of each (PM & PF).

8. SUPERVISED LINE FLYING:

   Finally, the last bit of your airline training before you officially get released as a First officer, are your SLFs. These are essentially revenue flights, with you (the trainee) performing all duties of a First officer. However, on the left seat is a Line Training Captain (LTC) or a TRI.

A safety pilot (an experienced first officer) may occupy the observer seat, to replace you if weather conditions don’t allow training flights or during an emergency. It is also the responsibility of these pilots to ensure the trainee has carried out all their duties appropriately.

The number of sectors vary from airline to airline, with DGCA requirement of at least 20 sectors. Out of these sectors, there may be requirements of PM (pilot monitoring) and PF (pilot flying).

Eg: my airline required 30 sectors, out of which I needed atleast 15 PF sectors.

What to expect ?

• Your roster might be more erratic during this time, due changes in operations

• Every airline has a set of discussion topics (30-60 topics) to be covered during your SLFs

• A safety release from the trainer, authorizes the trainee to continue their SLFs without requiring a safety pilot. This is given when the trainer is convinced, the trainee can efficiently carry out their duties without supervision. This can be authorized by the trainer in 4-10 sectors.

• Workload management becomes most essential, as you juggle between duties and discussion topics.

How to get through it ?

• Accomplish a thorough route preparation: runways, available approaches, taxi routings, special procedures, REF pages on Jeppessen etc

• Study the discussion items: make notes and reference all material to FCOM, FCTM, QRH and Operational Manuals

• Plan to reach before reporting time, allowing you to finish all pre-dispatch documentation and be ready with a “dispatch briefing” for your Captain.

Your dispatch briefing might include NOTAMS, enroute weather, weather at destination and departure, affecting MEL, RTOW calculations, available fuel calculations etc.

9. ROUTE CHECK:

   And CONGRATULATIONS, the worst is over! On meeting the requirements for SLFs, you will be required to give a route check which involves one PF and one PM sector. This isn’t a lot different from your SLFs and if you’ve been preparing well for your SLFs, this should be a cake walk.

What to expect ?

• 2 sectors- PF and PM

• DGCA CA42 forms need to be filled

• Door operation and walk around may be conducted as well.

How to get through it ?

• Put in everything you have learnt in your SLFs

CONGRATULATIONS !!! You’re officially a released First officer.

So there you have it, a brief description on airline training and what to expect. It sounds tedious and long because it is. But if done with your head on your shoulders, with the right preparation, you will come out a distinguished pilot!