In a properly working training system, failure rates of qualified individuals should be no higher than 10%. There might be some anomalies or spikes from time to time but a rate higher than this indicates a problem in either YOUR training system or YOUR screening system/selection process. And it wastes great sums of money and training resources.
High failure rates do NOT mean you are getting better qualified people out the other end, your standards are 'higher,' or your program is 'tougher' (whatever that means) or more challenging. It simply means you are finding silly reasons to fail more individuals, are not training them properly, and are wasting time and money--of both yourself and the individuals involved.
Check rides evaluate the instruction/instructor as much as the candidate (maybe more). There should be few if any items seen on a check that haven't been covered before in some detail, especially in the whats and the wheres to find it. The "here's the book/website link--figure it out" or "figure out what questions you should ask" approach isn't training nor is it really a big boy approach either.
Hiring someone as a potential Captain on the day of joining is fine, and very few who are hired are UNABLE to fulfill this role given time, training, and experience. If it's not happening, again you have a problem with YOUR process and work environment. Most pilots with advanced qualifications are professionals who are highly motivated, like what they do, and want to do a decent job. Simply getting to this point demands that the person CAN do the job. And again if it's not happening the organization needs to have a frank look in the mirror.
Many who entered this airline came from supervisory positions/captains in other airlines or as multi-ship flight leads and supervisors experienced in combat operations (with strong leadership and CRM skills albeit the person in the other seat might be several meters away and in another cockpit). So there's not alot to prove. If you have difficulty finding folks to upgrade (or turning down/deferring commands), again you need to look at YOUR process and find out why. If the system is working, everyone WANTS to suit up, show up, and be on the A team.
Many problems are caused by folks deliberately unwilling to listen (which is a sin of COMISSION, not omission). The labour negotiations should be a pretty good example of this mentality. If this isn't enough, a candid confidence/approval rating on a survey (which are usually exercises in feel-good ism) of less than 10% would be throwing a whole bunch of bright orange flags as well.
Last edited by Shep69; 17th Dec 2014 at 13:25.