Deep Thoughts: Pre-employment simulator checks

derg

Apparently a "terse" writer
Staff member
Some airlines have pre-employment sim rides, some do not.

I'm torn. Part of me says 'Well, what a great way to see if someone can actually fly"

but on the other hand "Well, what a great way to see if someone can actually fly… A FRASCA and we don't fly Frascas so what's the point?"

Thoughts?
 
Personally, I take 'em up for a VFR check-out flight in a real jet. Slow flight, steep turns with an engine cut, and a non-precision approach will tell you MOST of what you need to know about basic flying skills. If they're ok with that, then and only then, I put 'em in a sim and check their procedural skills. I really don't care much about their stories. They are mostly BS anyway. I do care about how they act and present in a real airplane.
 
For the love of David Hassellhoff, you wouldn't hire a lot of pilots! :)
Affirm. Only the best. Which are few and far between. I didn't make that stuff up, btw. I went through it myself at the pleasure and beat-downs of the "old man", as did every dude who ever flew the fleet at my shop.
 
With the rate our sim’s are running in Mecca, I don’t see how you could interview like we do + sims.

There’s that old -200 sim you flew in the museum, maybe should have saved an -88 sim…really test them out
 
With the rate our sim’s are running in Mecca, I don’t see how you could interview like we do + sims.

There’s that old -200 sim you flew in the museum, maybe should have saved an -88 sim…really test them out

Bruh, we have to staff an airline! LOL!
 
My very first interview at Colgan, we had to fly the 1900 sim in Orlando (ironically, the same one I did an entire course in at Riddle back in the day). I don't know what that proved or didn't, but I'm glad that was the last one ever.

I remember old AA guys telling stories about having to flying the 707 (after sending in "you know what" on a stick).

And I'm very grateful my current employer got rid of the sim, as well. I'm sure with some prep I'd be ok, but the last thing I wanted to do at my interview is fly a DC-10 with an aft CG and 1/3 speed brakes through air work.
 
My very first interview at Colgan, we had to fly the 1900 sim in Orlando (ironically, the same one I did an entire course in at Riddle back in the day). I don't know what that proved or didn't, but I'm glad that was the last one ever.

I remember old AA guys telling stories about having to flying the 707 (after sending in "you know what" on a stick).

And I'm very grateful my current employer got rid of the sim, as well. I'm sure with some prep I'd be ok, but the last thing I wanted to do at my interview is fly a DC-10 with an aft CG and 1/3 speed brakes through air work.
QX it was a FRASCA set up like a 414, with a Garmin 430. GEG-COE, ILS/missed/NDB hold, ILS full stop.

I got lucky since I was flying in a 414/421 then, but I went first, then tried to give the two mil/fighter guys a quick lesson on power settings/etc. poor guys had no clue about manifold pressure/using a 430.
 
Some airlines have pre-employment sim rides, some do not.

I'm torn. Part of me says 'Well, what a great way to see if someone can actually fly"

but on the other hand "Well, what a great way to see if someone can actually fly… A FRASCA and we don't fly Frascas so what's the point?"

Thoughts?
Have em fly a sim, preferably for a simple airplane - make the profile public and give them a little bit of time to learn to fly it before they fly the profile. They don’t even have to do approaches - but an ILS would be good. But simple stuff like “can you maintain altitude within 100’ as you fly this profile” is good - that’s 100 times harder in the sim than the airplane so it’s a good indicator for their scan - which is arguably the basis for all the cognitive stuff. But have them fly a profile of some sort.

Better if you can start collecting data from people - if you’re interviewing 50 a day, make a game out of it, come up with some objective way to score the sim, then make a leaderboard and follow up longitudinally. You should coordinate with the training department on this. In a few months (depending on how long training is) you’ll have good data about whether the people who score better do better in the real sim. If they do, add more complexity to your sim eval.

If you want to test procedure knowledge you can do that orally. having them do it in a PCADT or whatever isn’t realistic because you have time to brief it before hand, in the airplane you’ll have automation etc.

But yeah, if they can’t be bothered to put in the time to practice and read up on the profile that’s probably the best indication that they may not belong in your operation. The flying skills can be taught, but someone who’s motivated to be there will take the time to practice or at least try.
 
MQ did a sim in a frasca, but the main point was they sent a study guide a week prior with profiles and callouts to memorize, the very basic ifr work they had you do was secondary.
 
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I guess I’m saying, be data driven. What pilots may or may not want is largely irrelevant. The interview needs to generate candidates that perform well - so if you do use a sim make sure you can measure performance at the interview and measure performance after training some how, but without data your grasping in the dark.
 
I got lucky since I was flying in a 414/421 then, but I went first, then tried to give the two mil/fighter guys a quick lesson on power settings/etc. poor guys had no clue about manifold pressure/using a 430.

Hah i bet they had no idea what was happening, least of which might have been the power settings :)
 
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