Airline Experts

What are you going to do? Get off the plane?

Aren't flights on autopilot most of the time anyway these days?

Should they tell you a computer is taking over (scarier than it sounds - I know someone who used to design autopilot systems and he told me how they had 3 systems on board in case one failed, but they were all based onthe same (very buggy) piece of software code so if certain circumstances caused the primary system to fail, chances are the backups would also fail). I hope things have changed in the 15 or so years since he told me this!

I don't think a "training" pilot is allowed to fly commercial planes. I know my friend had to amount several hundred hours of flying time before she could take a job with an airline. Her training cost an awful lot and she had to pass exams. I guess she's one of the lowest pilots they have but I wouldn't call her a trainee as such.

WTS. It's a different level of 'trainee' who'd be involved. Like having a 'trainee' surgeon operate on you. They'd have reached a specified level of comptence before being responsible for high risk situations.

I can't see why they'd tell you at all.

Not at all, and if they were why would it affect you?

New to line pilots have many hundreds of hours of hands on flying for light single engined aircraft, twin engined aircraft and increasing complexity of them. Training is intense and detailed. Total cost is about £100,000.

We very often had 3 pilots in the flight deck on the 738 and sometimes it was training, sometimes due to weather! But how would it affect you as a passenger? This is what annoyed me about Kay Burley on Sky, she jumped on the fact there were potentially 3 flight crew. Who is to say it wasn`t a member of cabin crew in the flight deck? I was often in the flightdeck for landing, if there were enough crew to enable me to do so and my main role of being in charge of my door was not going to be compromised. I know the Boeing 737-800 well as I was certified as cabin crew on said aircraft and would often discuss the aircraft with the flight crew and engineers. I know where the black boxes are and would often show passengers if they asked where they are. Actually on this aircraft they are on the section of the tail above the toilets at the rear, at about the point of the rear failure was.

I don't know about airlines but as someone said a 'trainee' surgeon (eg Registrar) is actually someone with at least 8 years training, very different to a junior medical student. You wouldn't be asked whether you wanted them operating on you or not, they are the on call surgeon. In medicine you are technically a 'trainee' until you are a Consultant (which is about 15 years in total). From what others have said this seems to be the same for pilots.

My H is an pilot with a major Heathrow based airline. He trained for 3 years (and spent £'000's) on light aircraft, then twins to get his licenses (as well as LOTS of studying and exams), then when he was lucky enough to get his job with the airline he spent around 50 hours training in a simulator before they let him near the real aircraft. Then they took an empty aircraft to Scotland with the new pilots and practised taking off and landing nearly all night on an empty plane. Only then was he let loose on the flight deck with passengers, and for the next 30 hours or so of flying there was a Safety Pilot sat in the jump seat, as well as a Training Captain (as opposed to a normal Captain) to ensure things didn't go wrong. So there really is no need to worry (if that's what you're doing!) as it's not as if the airlines say right we need new pilots, lets have this Joe Bloggs off the street, stick him in the flight deck and show him where to press go! It takes many many hours of studying and flying to get the licenses you need before you can get an airline job, believe me I used to go with him and spent a lot of time sat in a freezing cold cessna with no loo or in flight entertainment! Also most airlines won't take you on until you have over 1000 hours experience so if you are with a 'Trainee' they might only be converting to that airline's procedures.

HTH