What To Expect in Airline Training

New-hire airline pilots generally expect training to be “intense.” Fewer arrive understanding what that means specifically: how the phases are structured, what the daily pace requires, which material needs to be memorized from recall and which can be referenced, and how to prioritize their efforts.

What follows is a broad walkthrough of airline training based on several programs, both AQP and traditional.

Two Training Models: AQP and Traditional

Airlines train pilots under one of two FAA-approved frameworks. Similarly to how flight training may be conducted under Part 61 or Part 141 but either leads to a new certificate or rating, so does either option lead to a type-rating. But which framework your airline uses affects the structure and pacing of your training, though the core material stays the same.

AQP (Advanced Qualification Program), authorized under 14 CFR Part 121 Subpart Y, breaks training into defined modules with stage checks at each transition. Indoctrination on company policies and procedures is followed by a validation—usually a written test. Systems ground school culminates in a Systems Validation (SV). Procedures training leads to maneuvers and line-oriented phases, validated by a Maneuvers Validation (MV) and a Line Operational Evaluation (LOE) respectively. Each phase has a clear entrance and exit gate.

Traditional programs, governed by 14 CFR Part 121 Subpart N, cover the same material but structure it differently. Systems knowledge may not be formally tested until an oral exam, which some airlines administer before sim training and others pair with the checkride. The maneuvers and line-oriented distinction still exists, but the formal separation varies. Some traditional programs run a single checkride that covers both.

So, the format varies, but what you need to study does not. Throughout this article, differences between AQP and traditional programs are noted where relevant.

From Indoc to the Line

Airline training follows a general arc. Knowing the phases gives you a mental map for the whole process.

Indoc comes first. Day one is typically HR paperwork, badge photos, company orientation, etc. Then the training starts. The first week or so covers the Flight Operations Manual (FOM), company policies, and general operations under Part 121. If you’ve never worked in Part 121, some of the terminology will be new. Dispatch, Crew Resource Management (CRM), duty and rest regulations under Part 117, and Operations Specifications are concepts that most new hires encounter for the first time during indoc.

Early in the process, you’ll bid for equipment and base. Each matters considerably, but for the purposes of training they determine which type rating you will be pursuing (e.g., A-320, B-737, E-170, CL-65).

Systems ground school compresses the aircraft’s hydraulics, electrical, pressurization, fuel, flight controls, and operating limitations into roughly one to two weeks. Under AQP, this phase ends with a Systems Validation. Traditional programs may defer systems testing to the oral exam.

Transport category aircraft are certified under 14 CFR Part 25, which enforces strict design standards. Because of this, many systems work similarly across aircraft types. Hydraulic systems typically run at 3,000 psi regardless of manufacturer. Pressurization logic, electrical bus architecture, and fuel system design follow common engineering principles. This is one reason the first type rating is often the hardest: pilots are learning Part 25 systems concepts in general, not just the specifics of one jet. The second type rating builds on the first.

Procedures training covers normal and abnormal operations in the cockpit. You practice flows, callouts, checklists, CRM, etc. Some programs conduct procedures training primarily in the full-motion simulator. Others use a combination of flight training devices (FTDs), paper tigers (cockpit mockups for practicing switch positions and flows), and sim sessions. You and your sim partner, typically another new hire on the same timeline, work through normal procedures first, then abnormals and emergencies. Preparation for each session typically takes longer than the session itself.

Maneuvers training focuses on handling the aircraft in a wide variety of scenarios, e.g., stalls, steep turns, engine failures, rejected takeoffs, single-engine approaches, windshear escapes, and other handling tasks. AQP programs validate this phase with a Maneuvers Validation (MV). Traditional programs typically fold maneuvers evaluation into the checkride.

Line-oriented training shifts the focus from individual maneuvers to operating the aircraft in a realistic line environment. You fly simulated trips with weather, ATC, dispatching, gate-to-gate operations, and abnormals introduced in context. AQP programs call this LOFT (Line Oriented Flight Training) and validate it with a Line Operational Evaluation (LOE). Traditional programs accomplish the same objective but may structure it as part of the final sim sessions before the checkride.

The distinction between maneuvers and line training matters. Maneuvers training develops aircraft handling: raw stick-and-rudder proficiency, emergency response, and precise execution of individual tasks. Line training develops operational judgment: managing a full flight from gate to gate while integrating weather, ATC, crew coordination, and company procedures.

The type ride is the culmination of sim training. Some programs include a formal oral exam, where an examiner tests the pilot’s systems knowledge. This may happen before the type ride, during it, or as a standalone event earlier in training. The type ride itself covers both normal and abnormal operations, and the examiner evaluates whether the pilot meets the standard for safe line operations. Upon successful conclusion of the type ride, you receive a temporary certificate with the applicable type rating. Under AQP, the type ride is typically the LOE. Under Subpart N, it’s a more typical checkride, evaluating all relevant parts of the ACS in one event.

IOE (Initial Operating Experience) follows the type ride. You fly scheduled revenue flights with passengers, supervised by a line check airman. IOE applies everything from training in a real operational environment with live weather, ATC, and passengers on board. The line check airman evaluates your performance and determines when you’re ready to fly the line unsupervised, at which point they’ll conduct a “line check”. Upon successful completion of the line check, you’re released to fly the line with regular Captains.

The Fixed Timeline

Airline training runs on a fixed schedule. Ground school starts on a set date, and sim sessions are assigned well in advance. The class moves forward and everyone moves with it.

The reason is cost. Simulators run thousands of dollars per hour. Instructors, check airmen, classrooms, and hotels are all scheduled and budgeted months in advance. Shifting one pilot’s timeline means rescheduling resources across the entire training department. Airlines build training programs around fixed footprints because the economics require it.

Some airlines grant extra sessions for pilots who fall behind. How much flexibility depends on staffing. When the airline needs pilots, training departments have more patience and more slots for remedial work. When classes are full and the hiring pipeline is healthy, the margin shrinks. It’s best to approach training as if extra time won’t be available.

The fixed schedule changes how you need to study. Training departments hand you several hundred pages of manuals (sometimes over a thousand) and tell you to learn them. The instinct is to start on page one. Three hundred pages later, you’ve spent all your study time on systems descriptions and haven’t touched memory items or limitations. Prioritizing is paramount. You don’t need to read a thousand pages of manuals. You need to memorize the critical material and know where to find the rest.

Memory Items, Limitations, Flows, and Callouts

Memory Items, Limitations, Flows, and Callouts are the core components of airline training. They aren’t the sum total of knowledge you must have, but not knowing them is a poor reflection of your preparation overall. So, they are a very good place to start.

Memory items are emergency procedures pilots execute without referencing a checklist for situations like an engine fire on takeoff, rapid depressurization, windshear escape, etc. Which events carry memory items varies between aircraft types. An event with a memory item on one jet may not have one on another. Most aircraft have roughly a dozen, though some have more. These items are often required by the aircraft manufacturer, not just the airline. They represent the emergencies where the time to act is too short to reference a procedure.

Limitations are the aircraft’s operating boundaries: maximum speeds, temperature limits, minimum oil pressures, weight limits, etc. Some programs require you to recite them word-for-word.

Flows build muscle memory. Your hands learn a pattern through the cockpit, specific switches in a specific order, for each phase of flight: before start, after takeoff, approach, shutdown. Callouts are the verbal calls at specific points: decision altitudes, configuration changes, abnormalities. Both need to be automatic.

Preparation and Study Habits

The common thread among pilots who do well: they’ve been actively studying and self-evaluating in their recent flying, and they aim high. They don’t treat training as a box to check. They approach it with the same drive that carried them through previous certificates and ratings, and they genuinely want to be good at this. That mentality makes the daily grind more productive because the motivation is internal, not just “pass the checkride.” It’s a habit, and it can be built before class starts. 

Students can get a head start by developing a working knowledge of topics like Part 121 operations and how they differ from Part 91 and Part 135, the dispatcher’s role in flight planning and release, rest and duty time rules under Part 117, and general (not type-specific!) systems knowledge (e.g., turbine engine principles, pressurization logic, hydraulic system architecture).

Our Airline Course covers this preparation: Part 121 framework, systems concepts, vocabulary, and the prioritization approach that gives you a working mental model before day one. It’s built by airline pilots who’ve been through multiple training programs, for pilots preparing for their first airline job.

You don’t need your specific aircraft’s hydraulic system pressure before fleet training (but it’s probably 3,000 psi). You benefit from understanding what a hydraulic system does and how redundancy is incorporated in transport-category aircraft design.

There are a few things you should avoid, as well. Don’t read the entire FOM before class. Don’t memorize company-specific procedures, memory items, limitations, etc., before you know what airplane you’ll fly. Once you have a fleet assignment, make everything fleet- and airline-specific. Before that, general concepts serve you better than specifics. Even on the same type, specifics in limitations and memory items may vary between operators. Getting too specific too early is counterproductive.

If possible, get the gouge from someone who recently completed your specific program. Ask what they wish they’d studied first, and what surprised them.

Take the training day by day. The full scope is intimidating. Treating each day as its own problem is more productive than trying to absorb the whole program at once.

Downtime, Classmates, and Studying Together

Airline flying is a team effort, and that starts in training. Get to know your classmates. Help them where you can, and let them help you. Study groups form naturally: quizzing each other on memory items in the hotel lobby, working through systems diagrams together, debriefing sim sessions over a beer after a long day. The pilots who lean on their classmates and contribute to the group tend to retain more and handle the pace better. Some of those classmates may become lifelong friends.

The Long Game

Mistakes happen in training. Everyone makes them. Forgotten callouts, rough sim sessions, a limitation that won’t stick no matter how many times it’s reviewed. The pilots who do well take those mistakes in stride, learn from them, and move on. Dwelling on yesterday’s errors takes time away from studying tomorrow’s material.

The type ride does not end that process. Every pilot at every level continues to make errors, study, and improve. The habits built in training carry through the rest of a career.