In a profession that’s generally full of type A people, my class is full of type B’s and the uninitiated. And so I begin 2012 as a leader; the wise old soul who’s been through the airline training thing before and the one who the flight instructor types seek out for advice. I’m hardly the most experienced in the class but I am the person who has consistently stepped up as a leader.

My advice: Over the next 5 weeks you’re going to learn a lot of important stuff and a lot of unimportant stuff. However you don’t know enough yet to differentiate between the two so learn everything and be prepared to dump 60% once you hit the line. The minutia will suddenly matter. Training is different than line flying. A lot different. Don’t worry about the systems test, don’t worry about the sim, and don’t even worry about IOE. Work hard but the company will prepare you for all that. What you should worry about is your first flight on the line. We practice so hard with the fear of failure looming overhead but the truth is you’re probably not going to fail training if you try your best. But when you get to the line there’s going to be another guy depending on you to do your job in some very difficult situations. This is how you earn your living. You’re a professional paid to perform. If you can’t perform, then you’ve failed.