Originally Posted by
Baybii_t
Hey All, it was quite a while ago but right before I started at JQ my friend Brendan gave me the below which he had written for potential staff like us (I have tweaked it slightly)
My peronal experience was in 2009 when I was Trans Tasman Cabin Crew with JQNZ - my ground school / training crew was a 5 week course that was all on one aircraft type (A320) except a 1 day conversion on the A321 which I only ever flew on it once during my line check (I had to carry a script because the overwing briefing was so different)
Ground school was intense and included S.O.P (Standard Operating Procedures) (roughly 1 week), Non-Normal Procedures (a few days), Emergency Procedures & Drills (almost 2 weeks), Equipment (1 week), CRM/Crew Resource Management (3 days), Aircraft Familiarisation (1 day), Aviation Medicine (1 day – For me this was the hardest part), Grooming (half day), and Service which we only received half a day's training on from Gate Gourmet. We also had a day on International Regulations like Flora and Fauna as we were Trans Tasman.
During Emergency Procedures (Eps) the testing and exams are tough and frequent! At the height of it there was pretty much an exam every second day. All theoretical exams had to be passed with 80% or higher. All practical assessments and written drills (Overwing Briefing, land impact, ditching, decompression and emergency cabin prep) all have to be passed at 100%. Having said that, they do allow 1 re-sit if required. I Had Amy Tarrent, Katherine Turner and Jeremy Hirt as my trainers and pretty much all the JQ HR staff we me were FANTASTIC - very supportive, friendly and helpful at all stages. After all the airline is investing money in you from the beginning by training you.
Ground school was a fantastic experience though! Don’t get me wrong it was Draining and Intense but most importantly it was fun, especially as we got flown to MEL to finish everything. During the wet drill (life rafts and lifejackets in the pool) we had to display swimming 100 meters and treading water for 3 mins (Might I add we were fully clothed and wearing life jacket so wasn’t too hard) But my fave part was the slide descent (There was no A320 slide so we trained on the 747 which was double the height of the A320 – word of advise don’t stop when you get to the bottom start running or you will face plant like me). When I started there were 2 ground schools at the same time as we were a new base and to be honest we really bonded with almost other crew in my school - studied after class at local cafes or went out for a drink here and there, and in all honesty you make friends for life.
My biggest piece of advise is be prepared to give up your life for the 4-5 weeks of training, it HAS to be your primary focus as it is intense and if you don’t study you don’t pass (1 person didn’t pass), Don’t try pre-prepare yourself by studying the ins and outs of JQ as a company and the operation of A320/A321 exits as trust me you will practice this about 100 times.
I honestly hope you all hear soon, I died waiting a week so I can only imagine how you are all feeling, fingers crossed I meet you all in the Aug 15 GS but if not I will meet you all out online!
Thanks Baybii-t ... All this info is good know. I have a feeling now that they may have contacted all those who are going to Aug15 by now especially since you heard within a week and we are going on to the start of week 3, I imagine we might be contacted for the 2nd GS, I've also noticed that they are advertising again, so there must be growth in the company. I've decided as of today I'm just going to try to Live as normal and try not to think about it as its consuming my thoughts. Good luck at ground school and we will all meet sometime in the future up up and away