Flybe Holding Pool.
 

Just wondering how deep the holding pool is for the Q400 and how long people have been waiting for their start dates?

Any info much appreciated

Someone out there must know?

4 metres in the deep end, 1 metre in the shallow end. Olympic size.

A-ha ha ha ha ha ha, I'm sooo funny! :} :ugh:

Bout 6 months I hear, new dash course starts every month. How long have you been waiting?

there are guys starting soon who have been waiting almost a year. Shortage of sim slots apparently?

This is true but I was unaware of 12-month delays. The trouble is that at present there are only 2 sims available worldwide for the Q400 - the Bombardier one in Toronto and the SAS one in Stockholm. Word has it that flybe are seeking approval for one to be built in Exeter and ANA are installing one in Tokyo at present... perhaps that one is a bit far away though.

T

If its any help, I did my interview May last year, sim in December, and have just been given a start date at the end of March.

PW

Sorry to be a pedant, but 3 Q400 sims worldwide - there is one in Seattle now too.

For FO's the hold pool is anything up to a year. It depends on where you live, as if you are well placed for one of the trickier bases, then you will be pulled out ahead of those who aren't. For skippers, the wait is considerably less, as they are short of experienced guys for the LHS - see last weeks flight for job ad for EDI captains.

Currently planning to put 10 new guys/gals (LHS and RHS) through per month, as one new Q400 planned to be delivered per month this year.

And sorry to be pedantic as well ...

4 x q400 sims already (Toronto, Seattle, Stockholm, Japan somewhere) ... all I believe are UK CAA approved except for Japan (the Seattle one was CAA approved last year when Flybe were looking into using it to help ease sim congestion).

And the new one to be online later this year is not going to Exeter but Flight Safety's new sim complex at Farnborough.

The Seattle sim is already being rostered for use in April !!! :ok:

Trickier bases
 

Maude Charlee,

Which bases would be considered as the 'trickier' ones? Would belfast city be one by any chance?

The reason I ask is that I live quite near it and would be very interested in being based there.

Thanks. ;)

Nothing more to add to Maude C and AC's responses, but this..... sim slots are a still problem at the moment, but as that one is addressed (Seattle and Farnborough) another will rear it's (very) ugly head.... A severe shortage of TRI's TRE's and line trainers. I think that this will be a bottle neck in the future, unless T's and C's are improved enough to keep them happy!!

Flyaway,

Yes, BHD is usually considered as 'tricky' as it is unusual to have an excess of local f/d crew, so crews are sent in from elsewhere, and despite it being a great place they are keen to return closer to home. This means a fairly healthy turnover. I understand that at the moment, for FOs at least, there is a waiting list to get in. The other tricky bases are EDI and GLA, but it appears that ops at GLA are being scaled back quite significantly, so who knows.

As regards sim slots, be prepared for all the unsocial hours, particularly in Toronto and Seattle. The Japanese pay big money for their sim sessions and so get to cherry pick the socially acceptable sim times. Everybody else makes do with the middle of the night. :ugh: