Hi prospect joiners.
A few new confirmed demotions and failed upgrades have recently reached my ears.
I regrettably do not have access to data, but the numbers some of the posters here are publishing are either old or a lie. Full badges of 6 captain upgrades have failed. To make that a 90% pass rate, EK would have to pass 67 guys in a row without a fail. And as it stands now, 1 out of 4 or 2 out of 6 is pretty much the usual fail rate.
The bar to access the course has also been raised, so that the simulators 2 years in advance of the upgrade are already a pre-command assesment. Some guys are waiting their turn for years now, with no reply to their queries from management.
Then demotions. On Training grounds. Or on the line. In the first or second or third PPC. Not one or two guys.
I flew this year with a handful of demoted fellows.
Looking at the seniority list will problably not help. A good number leave. Can't blame them.
What is the final count then? Add the three:
1 Guys waiting their chance forever
2 Guys Failed
3 Guys demoted soon after
A company has to defend its business, and only put in the left seat a capable individual. Noted. But something is obviously missing. Is it recruiting? Is it training? Is it motivation? Is it fear? Is it too difficult? (answer to the last is NO)
The least experienced badges recruited are soon due to upgrade. We are talking ATPL + 4 EK Years. Then upgrade in a biiiig jet with a large Sheikh painted on it that goes literally everywhere. What then? New sessions and courses have been implemented already. Nil fix.
As someone already said, this company is Hire and Fire. You are recruited whatever your standards, then through the grinder, if you pass, fine, if not, disposed of. Initial, PPC, or Upgrade. You wanna leave? I sure hope you are not bonded right now.
Aiming to be fair, most trainers try to do just that, train. So if the trainers are not purposely failing trainees, does it mean we are just not good enough? How is that so? I do not see anyone either in training or fleet trying to reverse the situation. They have failed.
But ultimately it is us that take the strain.