This has been a noodle scratcher for a couple of months for me. I am a Canadian ATPL holder converting to JAA, looking for jobs in the U.K. I have noticed in a few places advertisements including Performance A and Performance C in the job pre-requisites. Is this a training qualification of some sort, or is it something pertaining to the aircraft itself?

Hi there Bug,

These are generic exams which illustrated the priciples of performance planning for different classes of aircraft. Perf A was for a ficticious type which had three turbo-fan engines classified in the passenger category and performance group A. It had MTOW 195 tonnes, MLW 162.4 tonnes and MZFW 147 tonnes. The generic perf C type had MTOW and MLW 12499lbs and was a twin turbo-prop (loosely a Twin Otter). There were a number of other performance categories, which I forget the limitations for. But you get the picture.

You would need to check with the CAA to be sure, but I believe that these exams are not required for the issue of a JAR ATPL. But I think that you do need a type rating for a JAR 25(?) type, which I think is a public transport type of over 5700kg, but check. Try the CAA website for the details: www.srg.caa.co.uk and look for the Flight Crew Licencing pages (FCL). The website is actually pretty good.

That said, I don't know if it is essential to have those exams or not, or if employers are allowed to reject an application because you don't have them, or what. I think that if as a British pilot you have the relevant type on your licence then you would in the past have had the performance exam by default (you had to have the generic exam before having a type rating of that class entered onto your licence). Now you just need the type rating, and performance is included in that as type specific. Maybe BALPA could help you with that.

The vagaries of the British licenceing system were something else, and the change to JAA is proving equally mysterious for many of us!! Good luck though.

Off the top of my head. The old caa cpl exams didn't include performance A (twin jet) and i think you took a separate course for it.

Now JAR ATPL exames cover a single engine piston prop (beach bonanza); twin piston(maybe turbo and medium range jet transport 737-400. The later being the perf A bit.

That might exaplain why some adds are asking for it.