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As I remmber Colgan did PFT a few years back, didn't they?
You go from bouncing around the pattern with students, to flying checks. Often at night, in all kinds of weather, flying single pilot while keeping to a schedule. It's a big step, you learn a lot, you scare yourself a few times. You lose some co-workers, maybe even friends, in accidents. You are the PIC right out of the gate. You make the descisions, you explain to the Chief Pilot why it's unsafe to fly, you are responsible for everything that happens... You go to a commuter, now you're the new guy again, learning a new system. Working as a crew, dealing with passengers, maybe more legs in a day, but otherwise, very similar to what you did before. When they learn of your background, Captains trust you. You upgrade after a few years. You've seen a lot, you know the rules inside and out, you've picked up some good advice from the Captains you flew with before, you've figured out works and what doesn't. You know the system. At this point you're pretty seasoned. Get on with a major, and it's no sweat... You've done it all before. Now here comes the guy who tries to bypass the entire process with cheesy shortcuts, and never has the advantage of learning about his strengths and weakneses. Never gets any advice from those who came before him, and has never dealt with anything in the real world of aviation. In the end, that is the difference between climbing the ladder and going to one of these garbage PFT outfits.
Many regionals were PFT through Flightsafety. But if I remember correctly, there were still minimum qualifications, plus an interview with the airline that was hiring. If you passed the interview then you recieved a "conditional offer of employment" that was based upon passing the Flightsafety training. I remember this from about fifteen years ago so my memory is a bit fuzzy, so please correct me if I'm wrong ( I'm sure someone will...) .
Ditto.I "sat on the sidelines" during the early Nineties. I had the money to PFT,
I just refused to pay for a job where I would be worked like a rented mule.
Ty
Quite the large difference there. Line check airman with a new checkout is way different than standard GIA captain puke with sandbag PFT FO.