Ladies & Gentleman,
I had the pleasure of working with some on these cadets last year in the first part of their SIM phase and saw some of them last week, back to finish their intermediate SIM phase with the advanced phase imminent.
I found the comments made about flying ability with MPL cadets interesting. I have had first hand experience of MCC/JOC and MPL cadets and seen various levels of ability in both areas and generally I must admit I have been very impressed with some of these MPL guys & gals and their ability to fly the aircraft manually. In the MPL basic SIM phase the cadets as a 3 crew variation do 64 hours in the SIM with no AP/ATHR or FD which is concluded with a competency check, very similar to an IR skill test. I think around 98% of the cadets (at their peak) I have seen have flown the aircraft far better than any line pilot I have ever seen in my Airbus line flying career! The feedback I have had from my friends who work in the training department at EZY has been very positive.
I was very pleased to see these cadets back and continuing with their training, and I know they are very grateful for what some of the instructors at L3H and EJ have done for them. Of course the next challenge will be to secure a position. I guess we can only hope that now, not only for MPL, but for all our less experienced colleagues in the flying world, that with the positive news of a vaccine for C-19, that the industry bounces back a lot quicker then expected. I am optimistic for the future.
I wish all our up and coming pilots all the best in the coming months.