dear friends and followers today's
question is another great one asked by
one of my Instagram followers Joe could
you explain how do
co-pilots become captains as a great
question so let's get started can you
figure in May 2013
now let's imagine you've been flying for
an airline for quite some time now and
you've gained four thousand to five
thousand flying hours over the past
seven to eight years now you've not only
profited from flight experience you've
also gained seniority over the years
which is a crucial part in becoming a
captain now your airline makes an an
announcement for a so called captain's
upgrading there can be many reasons why
the airline is in need of new captain's
all the captain's might have retired or
left a company for other reasons or the
company isn't an overall growth more
planes need more pilots so you apply for
the captain's upgrade if you're one of
the copilot's with a highest seniority
sooner or later the Department of flight
training will set you up for the PICUs
program pilot in command under
supervision program meaning you as a
co-pilot act as a captain from the
right-hand seat you'll be the pilot in
command fulfilling captain duties like
passenger announcements dealing with
situations with the ground handling
taxing towards the runway and much more
amount of Pickers hours vary for many
different reasons for example in which
country you flying flight regulation
authorities aircraft type previous
gained hours etc in my example using all
the information of my dear friend and
colleague Robert who has just recently
became a captain on the Bombardier q400
had to fly 200 peakers hours including
three independent check flights with a
training captain
after completing the Pickers program you
prepare yourself for the captain's
assessment tests and interview first of
all there will be a questionnaire with a
hundred questions primarily about
technical knowledge on the rated plane
following an interview with the company
chief pilot and ape psychologist the
chief pilot will set a scenario for you
on ground for example giving you all
sorts of technical failures and issues
and you're going to have to
explain how you would deal with that
situation and which procedures and
manuals you'll consult to solve the
problem so either continue with the
fueling and boarding of the passengers
or make the decision that the plane is
not safe for operation the psychologist
will pay close attention on your
interpretation and judgment on the
imaginary scenario after passing the
assessment you'll have six days of
captains ground course with all sorts of
different and interesting courses like
the CRM crew Resource Management flight
safety knowledge duties and
responsibilities as a captain and
working with the airplanes technical
logbook usage of the minimum equipment
list and how to deal with exceptions at
airports with no maintenance service for
example you're going to pay close
attention at standard operating
procedures and a closer look at the
operating manual of the o M alpha after
completing the ground course the fun
part starts 12 sessions of simulated
training each four hours long first
lessons will concentrate on flying in
the left hand seat but no mercy after
that you'll be constantly tested on the
airplane knowledge memory items
checklists emergency procedures and a
lot of captains decision training what
would you do if this or that happens and
the instructor will always pay close
attention on your actions and decisions
to make the session even more
challenging the copilot will be silent
throughout the entire training to
simulate a copilot with no immediately
experience to not interfere with your
judgment and decision-making at the end
of the two weeks in the simulator you'll
have a loft session line orientated
flight training and a OPC operators
proficiency check flight which you have
to pass to get to the next step which is
flying as a captain in the actual
aircraft your first day as a captain and
upgrading outside of the simulator will
be with 80 r-e a type rating examiner he
will have a supervision folder with him
with all sorts of different types of
training and tasks which need to be
completed during the supervision flights
then they'll be five days of flying with
a LTC the line training captain who will
also ask many questions on airplane
knowledge like hydraulic and electrical
systems and procedures like fuel
planning diversion planning and flight
duty limitations etc also flight
orientation training like different
types of approaches takeoff and landing
with different flap settings etc until
passing the final release check meaning
from that point on you'll be allowed to
fly as a captain with experienced
copilot and another week of training
with the LTC in the jump seat and a
finally completing the entire upgrading
with a line check flight after passing
the last check flag you'll be upgraded
and can call yourself a captain and
Commander of flight wearing a uniform
with four stripes and all arrows flown
from that point on will be so-called
pick hours pilot in command hours many
flight authorities insurance policies
and all company procedures will allow
you only to fly with more experienced
co-pilots at the beginning until
reaching a minimum of 300 hours as a
captain now I know this all sounds very
arduous stressful and tiring but with
the right attitude motivation and
endurance it is just another stepping
stone to a great career as a pilot I
hope you enjoyed this video about how to
become a captain in commercial aviation
so please hit the subscribe button and
share with your with your friends and
spread the word all the best
your captain Joe
[Applause]
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as mentioned before the upgrading
procedure vary from the airline to
airline and very often depending on
flight authority regulations but the
program in general has to cover basic
topics including technical skill test
flight safety knowledge decision-making
and all mixed into adequate training
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