As mentioned on that thread, and triggered by the CGH AB crash - but not specific to it, I would like to air my views on current 'airline training'.
The pressure is on to get co-pilots through the system and into seats. They receive the basic minimum training to allow them to 'pass' the line check.
It is becoming increasingly common to find a co-pilot who is 'lost' without a (737) magenta route on the map, or an extended centre-line to a runway with a Vnav profile available. The 'old' concept (I grew up with a map and stopwatch, and getting 'lost' at 480kts focusses your skills
) of where am I, where is 'it' and what am I doing about 'it' seems to have been lost. More and more there is no preparation or even fore-thought put into energy management and the possibility of shortened track miles unless the Vnav tells them. 'Plan ahead' as a concept seems to have lost ground. It is common now also to find a 'P1' rated co-pilot who has very little clue about what being 'P1' really means.
This is not, in my opinion, the fault of the trainers themselves, but the 'pressure' they are under to produce the sausages.
Now a brief glance at the CGH crash: all the way through the AB history we hear how damn smart it all is - and it is, and I'm certain Fly-by-wire will have saved a few hulls which may have been lost on the old 'direct-cable-connection' types. However - are we being seduced into over-reliance on the wealth of automatic features and information, and is the apparent 'experience' some have had of the throttles not being closed on landing (extremly basic flying?) down to a perception perhaps that these superbly clever automatics will look after it?
I'm not suggesting that 'reverser inop' should even be considered as a 'training' item for the AB, but maybe we are missing out on basic airmanship/flying skills in the training syllabus? Should there be some sort of formalised post final line-check training programme - I know BA had it when I was there? It need not be expensive, but can done on an opportunity basis if necessary. It just needs a folder with 'training items' to work with which the co-pilot can carry. A few sample items that particularly come to mind which 'line-training' nearly always fails to cover, as well as 'awareness', would be HF usage, fuel planning and Wx radar technique.
Open to the floor.