Out of pure interest, from where did you get that statistic?
A Ryanair Training Captain.
Every selection, interview rocess I have doen has been a number of 'stages' involved essays and interviews first and then involved a sim ride. Yet Ryanair have a seemingly 'box ticking' interview which is largely irrelevant to the panel (backed up by numerous independant posts) and a sim ride in a jet which they put all the weight of their decision in to.
I presume you're comparing Ryanair with FTOs like CTC?
I suppose you have to remember that Ryanair are an Airline looking for immediate solutions to their recruitment needs. They aren't looking for training potential because pilots come to them having obtained the necessary licences. The Assessment Day at Ryanair is therefore aimed, I imagine, at looking at immediate ability rather than potential. Their standards are high despite what is said on Pprune.
On the other hand, an FTO looking for candidates to join their expensive courses is looking for an 'ideal' candidate or at the very least someone with lots of money who will perform well in their specific training environment. What's more, they want a certain type of personality, compatible with what their associate Airlines believe they require. They are looking to fill spaces in a holding pool.
Is aptitude testing and exhaustive personality profiling through essays, group exercises and face to face interviews better than a single technical/HR interview and sim check in FFS, followed by reference checks? Who's to say. Horses for courses. I passed both forms of Assessment Days and found both very tough and, quite honestly, very interesting.
If we're talking instead about a 'third way', such as you'd find with applications to BA, Flybe or other similar Airlines, then you're talking about something out of the reach of 250 hour pilots; not that there are any such opportunities going for the low hour pilot anyway!
