The reality is that the training in Shorthaul for Command or First Officer is vastly superior. The contract sadly is not.
Shorthaul has had a long culture of training as opposed to checking in long haul. That is in the process of changing in Longhaul however cultural change is slow, as are modifying training paths. Shorthaul didn’t previously have the advantage of training from S/O to F/O. TAA and Australian Airlines candidates came directly from GA or airforce directly into the RHS of a high performance jet, so the training had to be good and practical.
What really impressed me was the accountability of each individual training or senior check captain in Short haul.
The onus was equal on trainer and trainee. In fact I would go as far as saying it’s greater on the trainer provided the student has prepared and has the right attitude. A failure rate that high from SO to FO in Shorthaul would not be acceptable.
My personal take was that a higher percentage of training pilots got selected on their ability to train in Shorthaul. Long haul has some extremely gifted trainers too but Shorthaul IMHO has the higher average. The system is also designed with the ethos that if you put in the work you will get through. The statistics back this up. Failures are rare in Shorthaul and it isn’t a talking point.
In both First Officer and Command training, candidates are taught to be commanders or co pilots and given the skill sets as opposed to just having it or not. If students need extra they are given it. Everyone can reach equal standard at different rates of learning.
Suspect the S/Os who failed have been in the backseat for some time. Now growth is increasing, the pressure is immense on the training section, so it’s as much a failure due to pressures on resources and a system in Longhaul where SOs were traditionally never that long in rank. Now with lots of retirements and pilot shortages this pressure will only increase. The training section will look at how they can improve the training and pathways so the failure rate is not so high. It will have to get better as the pressure isn’t going to back off. Agree with a Keg that it is disappointing that the system has let so many people down.
In an ideal world every candidate would move through Short Haul for upgrades. Certainly the failure rates would be lower.
That so many Short Haul TRIs and TREs were selected for the 787 speaks volumes about the quality of trainers.
If only the Short Haul contract was as good as the training!