Do you know what is consistently emphasized more than anything else in this industry, outside of safety? Through the title you might be able to guess – training. It serves as the foundation for your entire career. Every airline has their own new hire training program tailored to their aircraft types, culture and preference. Regardless of the airline you choose to fly for, you’ll need to know some basic terms related to training:
Recurrent: Once a year for four days pilots are required to undergo recurrent training to enhance their skills, learn any new or updated procedures, and refresh their knowledge on standards and requirements. It can include several different “lessons” including emergency procedures, learning new and/or revised procedures, and pilots can even request to review certain procedures based on their level of need.
Initial Operating Experience (IOE): We’re going to let you in on a secret – the first time you fly an actual CRJ or ERJ you’ll have real passengers in the back! Your first flight in a CRJ or ERJ is in an operating aircraft with passengers on board – paying passengers who are expecting an experienced pilot to deliver them to their destination safely. This experience, called IOE, is a real-world test with an experienced instructor pilot intended to familiarize you with flying the line.
Full motion simulator: Also called a Level D Sim, the full motion simulator is an accurate replication of an aircraft flight deck and simulates the true movements, visuals and responses of the aircraft systems. It is used during flight training to simulate actual flight experiences that a pilot might encounter in a safe environment.
Line check pilot: This term is synonymous with line check airman. These individuals are senior captains with significant flight experience. It is a part 121 FAR requirement that pilots (both in training and out of training) must be observed by a line check pilot. While in the aircraft they are observing several different things including checklist usage, approach briefings, weather analysis and other operating procedures.
Type-Rating: Certification of a pilot to fly a certain aircraft type that requires additional training outside of the scope of initial pilot license and general training.
Airline Transport Pilot (ATP): Certification that qualifies pilots to fly commercial, passenger-carrying aircraft. The ATP certification training program (ATP CTP) became a requirement on Aug.1 2014. The CTP, which must be taken before a new pilot can take the ATP written test and obtain ATP certification, is usually completed independently by an aspiring pilot and can cost around $5,000. ExpressJet was the first passenger-carrying airline to receive FAA approval on an in-house ATP CTP course, which we offer for free to new hire pilots as part of our paid training.
Graphic Flight-Desk Simulation (GFS): Computer-based device that offers real-time simulation for the flight deck controls of an aircraft. Simulators are able to display realistic flight conditions and malfunctions.
There is a lot to learn when beginning your commercial aviation career, but ExpressJet is here to help you every step of the way. Our industry-leading training will equip you with the confidence to know how fly our aircraft safely, and grow in your career. All of our instructors are ExpressJet pilots, so they know our equipment, our values and our high standards. We have a 92% success rate and we are committed to making sure you are successful. ExpressJet doesn’t just train regional pilots, we train future major pilots.
We want to help you make the smart choice for your future by providing you with the information you need to know. If you have any questions about our training, visit flysmartchoice.com. In the upcoming weeks, we will be bringing you more aviation vocab terms.
Check out the other articles in our Aviation Vocab 101 Series: