Well I'm bound to get a few kick-backs from this, because I've already done this one to death on the staff website, but I'll throw in my opinion for chuckles.....
Training when I joined was a bit messy. Took forever to get anything done. We were shipped to Toronto for the initial TR, where we didn't get any of the SOP's, flows etc - which were hammered to death by JT back in EXT. All passed the initial though, but from then, we had various single days here and there covering performance etc in EXT. Base training was about 3 weeks later, and line training a couple of days after that. All a bit spaced out, but not too bad.
Since then, I've flown with various line trainers and have found them all to be fair and consistent. There are still various niggles that they don't all agree on - mainly because no set procedure has been set in stone, so there are different interpretations as to how something should be done. Can be confusing at times.
As far as the 1200 fuek check at Ortac - happened as recently as the end of last year to me I'm afraid!
The most recent thing that's really 'annoyed' me, is a bit of a shambles about training for the speed tapes. First of all you have to do ground training (covered on the ART course which most people sleep through with terrific hangovers impeding any chance of taking anything in!!), and training in the sim. Then you don't have to do sim training, but you have to cover VFR and IFR manouevres on the a/c. Then you can cover the ground school bit in a brief with a Line Trainer, and carry out the in-flight training on revenue flights.
Some trainers insist on training being done in the sim, others don't. The groundschool is bare minimum, and learning on-the-go with pax down the back is, as far as I'm concerned, a joke....
Picture this.... groundschool covered 10months ago.... no sim training..... pre-flight brief of about 10mins (which to be fair covered most of it)..........out to a/c and have approx 5 mins to have a look and play with the new buttons..... RVR 175m.... classed as sufficient training so off we went.
Funny that the day before, another F/O with the same lack of training had got off the a/c when he found it had speed tapes, and they got someone else in to cover.
The day I'm there.... no-one on standby anywhere, so it's deemed legal. Had I chosen not to fly because I didn't think I'd had sufficient training, it was, and I quote from the training manager, "a problem that would be dealt with"..... i.e. come for tea and biscuits because you refused to fly....
I'll sit back now and wait for the insults!
