muckles:
I think Freight Dog might like to explain what a commercial pilot has to go through to get and keep his licence to fly commercially
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I’ll try my best 
I won’t harp on about the course to obtain the basic Air Transport Pilots Licence. The training is hard, thorough and exacting. There’s statutory classroom learning with 14 exams you sit at a Civil Aviation Authority adjudicated exam centre. Once you’ve got all that that licence allows you to fly for a living, but you of course can’t actually fly anything useful as the largest thing you’d have flown would’ve been a light aircraft with two piston engines.
After bagging your new licence you need to pass selection with an airline and find a job! Once you join an airline they will put you through a “type rating”. Each aircraft design is called “a type”. So your being rated on that aircraft. A Boeing 737-800 is a type.
Airline selection typically consists of various tests and interviews designed to fathom out your technical skills, your “non technical skills” and various other aspects required for an effective crew member, and of course traits that company wish to see in their employees . A typical airline selection might run over 3 or 4 seperate days with things such as:-
Day 1 - written tests in verbal reasoning and comprehension, mathematical reasoning, and a series of tests using computer models to assess spatial awareness, workload management, prioritisation, leadership, communication, ability to cope with pressure, hand eye coordination etc
Day 2 - interview. Typically what they call “performance based”. A series of questions asking “give us an example of a time when yadda yadda…”. Each question designed to explore various aspects. Up to you to have enough jackanories you can demonstrate all these qualities
Day 3 - simulator assessment. Typically putting into practice some of the key skills they’re looking for against a backdrop of pressure in the environment whilst assessed on raw handling skills
Day 4- perhaps another final interview and group exercises to see how effective you are at utilising your “human factors” skills that are relevant to the job . Or not
Once you’ve plumped a job, you’ll be sent on a type rating. This takes about 3 -4 months end to end. It’s a very intensive course designed to train you on all aspects of flying a particular type within an operation. First phase is ground school.
So typically aircraft specific ground school covering the technical systems, performance calculations, load and balance calcs, operational procedural knowledge, emergencies. Then more wide range operational ground school. For instance, area specific operation such as North Atlantic track system, Russian ops, dangerous goods, security, emergency equipment on board, RNAV operations (modern nav system. The list is bloody endless . There’s a stack of exams you then sit.
Next bit on the type rating is simulator training. Typically 9 sessions of 4 hours each. Each session exploring various technical and emergency aspects within the framework of standard operation procedures. Engine failures, fires, hydraulics, emergency descents, stalling, upset recovery, Electrics, gear, terrain, wind shear, all weather ops. It’s a big list anyway. Then you sit a test over 2 days with a CAA examiner watching you and your colleague sweating it out in the sim. Each flight test in the simulator is 4 hours long. The most stressful and intensive 8 hour long driving test imaginable where everything that possibly can go wrong with an aircraft seems to go wrong .
Then after that it is several weeks of “line training”. That’s flying for real on real flights with a trainer. Esssentially learning how to fly the line and utilise all the training against the backdrop of everyday. Basically learning the job .
Finally there’s a line check. An examiner sits along for the ride and observes you and your colleague on a standard flight. Once you’ve passed this, you’re done!..
…Until about 5 months later anyway . And then it’s another round of technical exam papers to sit on various aspects and a 2 day simulator test again. Then there’s 2 days of groundschool on various aspects with more tests (spotting a theme here? ).
So you have 2 - 2 day sim tests to do a year. These are by CAA approved examiners and essentially they resign your licence. Plus a line check every 12 months. Ground school every 11 months. There’s also a yearly medical requirement. In addition you’re expected to complete training and tests on endless aspects that have changed or been fed down via the industry authorities or manufacturers. You have to attend on going training on all human factors skills, threat and error management etc etc.
In the middle of that you’re flying the line, ■■■■■■ out of your face with jet lag, keeping abreast of the volumous and many manuals for the operation and swigging coffee like it’s going out of fashion . You get used to the word “debrief” and become engrained that everything you do will be picked apart, analysed and soul searched for performance improvement. No one ever, ever ever has nothing on a debrief even after a standard day out, inc examiners themselves. The job isn’t for anyone that can’t take constructive criticism .
