At the risk of supporting elroy jetson…here goes: Having been a senior checker/trnr in the military, I do have to agree with his stance and the overall CX/KA appch to making a Capt. If done correctly, the methods of questioning, constructive criticism and thoughtful fair report writing is essential to any professional flying organization. However, as with any argument (particularly on PPRUNE), the truth lies somewhere in the middle ground.
While the intent from the trng dept is good, the execution is often poor. Standardisation between trnrs is a problem in any flying outfit and as professional, mature individuals we should accept this as a reality of human nature. Conversely, trnrs should be made aware of this through their own standardisation checks - ie no one is above the law or free from being checked themselves. To enforce very hi standards, the trng dept must be squeaky clean. Any perceived inconsistency or hypocrisy, and all credibility is lost.
Re the annoying small stuff (the PDC readback eg. mentioned earlier is a good one), when a trner chips me on something like this, I take great joy in respectfully informing them that the issue seems open to interpretation by other trnrs and that’s not how its commonly done on the line. The usual response is, “yes I know, but this is what the trng dept wants” – this does the organization no favours and rather than being an example of high standards, is completely the opposite. Whenever, I had to criticise a pilot for a minor or major indiscretion, I would firstly listen to their opinion and if necessary, completely explain why it was so important to do it another way. If I detected a negative creep, misinterpretation or perhaps a better way of doing it had been invented on the line, I would ensure this was addressed with the trng dept and the SOPs either changed/improved or misunderstandings corrected in the next standardisation notice. Frustratingly, this seems to rarely be done effectively in the airlines. It seems the small stuff is sweated adnauseam, while some major operational considerations/issues are disregarded, esp in sim checks. How about spending the time instructing pilots on how to handle sticky situations effectively?
The making of a good trng Capt (similar to the making of a good line Capt), cannot be achieved in a quick and dirty 1mth course, nor should it be offered to individuals who have simply been there for a long time. Those who can – do, but some of those who can, should never teach. More effort in raising Trng Capt standards will yield very positive results in the attitudes of the pilot body. After all, which pilot didn’t respect and want to learn from the great instructor or expert trng capt from their previous lives?
To the contributors who wish to dumb-down this profession and lower the standards to the level of bus driving, I put it to you that it is this exact attitude that is destroying the flying business and resulting in the low wages and poor working conditions we are seeing industry wide. If it was a little more challenging to become a professional pilot and high standards were seen as a noble and important thing, as it was not so many years ago, I don’t think we would all be whinging so much now.