Captain development

[jrh]

I'm hoping to gain some wisdom from the masses here. What types of training, mentoring, programs, or other processes have you seen implemented in your operations to develop SICs/FOs into competent captains?

In my operation, historically we've hired pilots as SICs in Citations, assuming they do well we then promote them to PIC in King Airs, then after 6-12 months of King Air flying move them to a PIC role in a Citation. At each transition the pilot works with an IOE captain on each trip to ensure they are following SOPs, etc.

This progression has consistently developed very competent Citation captains. They simply handle things well. Weather decisions, maintenance issues, dealing with pax, etc. There is a maturity we see in these captains that we don't see in even our most experienced Citation SICs.

The problem I'm running into is that growth in our Citation fleet has far outpaced our King Air fleet. We need more Citation captains than what our King Air pilot group can provide.

Therefore, I'm looking for ways to promote directly from Citation SIC to PIC. Obviously lots of operations do this successfully. It's not like NetJets has a fleet of King Airs their pilots go through. I know it can be done, but looking for specific processes to put in place.

 

[adk]

I'll start with a caveat that I've never flown a Citation and I have less than 10 hours in a King Air.

Could you elaborate a bit on why your company thinks a pilot you hired into a Citation needs to "cut his teeth" as a King Air captain before transitioning back to the aircraft he was already flying and assumedly proficient in flying?

What is so different about the weather decisions, maintenance issues, and dealing with pax in a King Air versus a Citation?

To me, flying a specific type is a perishable proficiency but being a good captain is a lifelong skill that is transferrable between airframes. If you have a Citation SIC that is good at flying a Citation and you also think they are ready to be a captain, they are going to become a good captain just as quickly on a Citation as they are a King Air.

 

[adk]

And, I'm sorry, I never really addressed your question.

How does your company do recurrent? There is value in getting several of your SICs together in a group, presenting them an issue that a pilot at your company actually faced, and telling them to start talking like they're in charge.

Mentors can be extraordinarily helpful for some, but not all, pilots. Some just value the bond and the guidance more than others. But to be successful, there needs to be a lot of trust in the mentor. There needs to be confidence that when a pilot runs a not-so-great idea past a mentor, the mentor provides input but also holds some of the bad ideas in confidence and doesn't go telling others - especially management.

 

[jrh]

I'll start with a caveat that I've never flown a Citation and I have less than 10 hours in a King Air.

Could you elaborate a bit on why your company thinks a pilot you hired into a Citation needs to "cut his teeth" as a King Air captain before transitioning back to the aircraft he was already flying and assumedly proficient in flying?

What is so different about the weather decisions, maintenance issues, and dealing with pax in a King Air versus a Citation?

To me, flying a specific type is a perishable proficiency but being a good captain is a lifelong skill that is transferrable between airframes. If you have a Citation SIC that is good at flying a Citation and you also think they are ready to be a captain, they are going to become a good captain just as quickly on a Citation as they are a King Air.

It's mostly a single pilot versus crew mentality. The King Air captains are forced to figure things out on their own more. They get more confident in their decisions, more independent, and so on.