A recent @safepilots Instagram post focused on the necessary components for flight training success. I explained the necessary Head (cognitive), Hands(coordination, dexterity), and Heart (motivation). But looking at it now, I definitely should have qualified “what kind of motivation?“ (and included a fat wallet) There seems to be no passion or joy in modern academy flight training. These days it’s most commonly only a manic race for the airlines; minimum hours and maximum pressure.
The current learner motivation seems to be the attractive airline pay scale and travel adventures (lifestyle). And for learners, the frenetic pace of training eliminates any intrinsic reward or happiness in the process. Who has time or money to “fly for fun?” I also seldom detect a striving for excellence and professionalism that has been historically important in aviation. Minimum hours and abilities now rule this system. Quality and deep knowledge have certainly been compromised in the race for the right seat of a wide-body jet. These fast-track learners are running like dogs. Not one hour in all their training seems to have been for the fun of it or even a sense of personal reward. This is a very different world and a bit depressing to me.
I not only pity these exhausted learners working so hard with no intrinsic reward, but increasingly wonder how airline trainers and senior captains handle these fast-track FOs. I see only a small slice of the bigger process, and I hope the results are more positive than what they appear.
In the NE, closer to the east coast craziness, the hysteria is certainly greater. But our SAFE Mentor Connector provides insight into the soul-crushing pace of flight training. One pilot was ready to quit due to a couple flight test failures. Another had fallen off the pace in a national “fast track” program due to finances. Both were convinced they were total failures as a result of these problems. Was it too late to go back and get a CFI? Should we just give up? (Check out the SAFE Mentoring Connector if you are alone and similarly suffering – get a Mentor).
Years ago, flight training was *quite* different. It was pretty common for people to acquire pilot certificates and ratings at the pace of one every couple of years. This made it affordable without loans but also provided time to assimilate the material fully and gain experience. It really does take some “marinating” to fully internalize the skills at each pilot level.
Now I regularly see CFI-MEI graduates with 5.1 hours of solo (141 grads) and they often have been pilots (start to finish) for less than a year. Commonly, academy knowledge test scores are in the 70s. Occasionally the oral knowledge at the CFI level is so thin, that some applicants are not even fully qualified to be private pilots. Most distressing is that there is seldom a passion for excellence here. They are running too fast for the finish line and a minimum “pass” is a badge of success.
This cycle is obviously self-perpetuating too, since these new CFIs teaching the next crop of pilots have so little experience or deep knowledge to convey. Most applicants are acronym rote-level performers. When they earn their 1500 hours they are “senior” and off to the airlines.
These deficiencies in the flight training system are exactly why we started “SAFE CFI-PRO™” but the need is far greater than what we can service at this time; the aviation training world is certainly beyond crazy. Please share your experiences/ideas as a learner or as an educator related to this mania in the comments or on our FB Mentor Page. Fly safely out there (and often)!
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Tell us what *you* think!