Launch customer All Nippon Airways (ANA), along with
Japan Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, and Air India have,
thus far, received flight training from full-time Boeing
pilots. “The humiliation for LAN and Qatar in having
these temp pilots pawned off on them is startling,” said
Goforth. “Did Boeing even tell these customers that
they’re not worth being served by genuine Boeing
training pilots?”
Unlike Boeing instructor pilots, the contract pilots did
not participate in the flight test and certification
program of the 787, according to SPEEA. Pilot training
for airline customers is part of the complete line
assist and flight training package Boeing includes with
the purchase of a new commercial airplane. “When
Boeing customers buy a 787, they expect experienced
flight and training instructors,” said Goforth. “They
don’t expect Boeing to give them a temp flight
instructor who has little, if any, actual experience
flying the aircraft they are training others to fly.”
Below is a statement released by Boeing -
In addition to full-time instructor pilot staff, Boeing
purchases instructor pilot services through a
third-party vendor. One group, known as purchased
service instructor pilots (PSIPs), provides ground
school and simulator training. Another group, known
as purchased service pilots (PSPs), provides
training and line assist to customers in their
airplanes. Boeing has engaged the
services of purchased service instructor pilots for
more than 10 years. However the use of PSPs to
provide line assist is new. There have been no
customer complaints on this issue.
Purchased service instructor pilots have the same
qualifications as full-time Boeing pilots. Any
pilots dispatched to train or fly with our customers
are of the same high quality, receive the same
training and ongoing courses and meet the same
standards and qualifications regardless of whether
they are full time or contractor. All
purchased service instructors who will conduct 787
training and line assist flying have completed
training in the airplane. They received the same
“base” training as full time employees, which
included touch and go’s and instrument approaches in
airplane ZA005 at Moses Lake, Wash.
The purchased service pilots come from a primarily 777
airline training background. This is significant
because the 787 and 777 share a common type rating.
Many of the contract pilots are former training
Captains for major international airlines that are
Boeing airline customers, including former heads of
777 training. The average number of flight hours for
the purchased service pilots is more than 16,000
hours per pilot.
The practice of engaging purchased service instructor
pilots decreases the number of layoffs during a
downturn or fluctuations in demand for training. It
makes good business sense. Boeing has expanded the
use of purchased service instructor pilots to
provide greater flexibility to meet the customer’s
needs and to deliver airplanes to them as soon as
possible. Recently, for example, Boeing is
experiencing a need for a number of additional
instructor pilots to train 787 customers in a short
span of time. Engaging purchased service instructor
pilots allows Boeing to manage spikes in demand
without hiring employees and later having to lay
them off.
SPEEA says that unlike Boeing instructor pilots, the
contract pilots did not participate in the flight
test and certification program of the 787. Actually,
in September 2012, Boeing held two 787 Flight Test
summits to level-set the entire team on the
airplane’s development and lessons learned. It was
considered a “Masters Class” on the 787. All
“contract” and full-time pilots attended. The
program included presentations by 787 flight test
pilots, the 787 lead technical pilot and the senior
787 Systems Engineer. A detailed overview of all of
the airplane systems was also presented.
|