Your next steps will largely depend on where and what you end up flying. If you join an Airline as a First Officer the following training will be your journey towards the left-hand seat of an airliner.
Multi-Crew Cooperation Course – If you notice, so far you have learned to fly everything yourself! But the flight deck has a two person crew (sometimes 3-4 depending on the type of operation). Here you will come together with a fellow Pilot who has completed similar training to you and will now have an opportunity to operate in a multi-pilot, multi-engine aircraft.
It will heavily focus on key Pilot Competencies which are covered above. You will learn skills such as Workload Management, Decision Making, Application of Procedures, Use of Checklists, Teamwork, etc. There is no real exam but it will allow your airline to understand how you would deal with challenges so it is very important you treat this phase as one!
Type Rating – Finally (actually not there yet!) you will begin a very important journey, your Type Rating. Depending on what aircraft your airline flies, you will have to do type-specific training to fly that aircraft.
Common aircraft in India you will find are Airbus A320, Boeing 737, Boeing 777, Airbus ATR72, Q400 to name a few. This is a very important phase of your career so far – In the Type Rating you will begin by learning the systems of your aircraft & you will end up flying using Computer Based Training, you will have to pass a theoretical exam and then you will be put on a Full Flight Simulator often known as Level D sim.
The number of sessions depends on your airline and regulations at that time but the way sessions work is you will have a 4-hour full flight simulator sortie with 2 hours briefing before and 1 hour debriefs after the session. Each session you will deal with complex issues such as Engine Failures, Unreliable Airspeeds, Dual Hydraulic Failures, Rejected Take Off, Evacuation to name a few items.
Other items also include Low Visibility Operations and Winter Operations where you will fly in extreme conditions as well as flying very close to the ground without visual reference (and deal with failures). In the end, you will complete an “LST” which is your License Proficiency Test with an examiner to get your Type Rating endorsed on your license.
“THE FIGHTER BOY” has explained the process of Type Rating in detail.
Base Training – Now that you are fully trained and type rated, you will for the first time be in charge of a Commercial Jet outside of the simulator environment. Luckily, you will not have any fare-paying passengers yet but you will be required to complete 6 take-offs and landings at an airport with a Line Training Captain, it will be the only time you will fly an empty jet in circuits! Once he’s happy that you can safely take off and land that particular jet and show no sign of concern you will move on to “Line Training”
Line Training – Finally, (actually finally) you will now be preparing for the day to fly your first fare-paying passengers from A to B in a real aircraft, with real people! Yes, it does not get more important and special than this but don’t worry you won’t be left alone to do all that. You will now be doing a “Line Training” where you will fly with Training Captains over a period of hours or sectors depending on your airline until you can safely demonstrate you can be let loose with a normal lined Pilot and deal with any operational challenges thrown at you as part of your job.
And this is it… You are not a fully-fledged First Officer on the Left-Hand Seat of an Airliner! You will have to demonstrate that you are competent throughout your career and as a Pilot, you will be put in a Simulator every 6 months to complete an OPC – Operator Proficiency Check and a yearly LPC check Line Proficiency Check in the Simulator and an actual Line Check with a Training Captain every 1 or 2 years.
Welcome to the Airlines!
INDIAN AVIATOR
Founded in 2021, for pilots by pilots.
Faguni Saxena (DGCA & FAA Commercial Pilot)
Dipeet Mehta (UK, EASA Airline Pilot)
info@fagunidipeet.com
Please note all information is based on practical experience and procedures with regulations valid at that time. Always check for the most updated information directly with the supplier, regulator, and other means. We hope you enjoy our website!
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