Monday 24th April 2023 to Saturday 29th April 2023. I have officially started with Ryanair on type rating course FR2333 and I am absolutely loving it! It’s been a week of firsts and a lot of new names, faces and places to get used to which is all part of the job and it’s brilliant. Don’t get me wrong, learning everybody’s name has been a challenge and there must’ve been a few times I’ve introduced myself to the same person and they’ve introduced themselves to me! In this first week, it hasn’t been flying or learning the in-depths of the 737, that’s still to come, instead it’s been a really good first week, so without further adieu, let me take you on my journey as my first week in Ryanair!
Monday 24th April 2023 – Introductions and EFB Setup
The day started at 09:00 at the Ryanair East Midlands Training Facility where for the morning we received a presentation from the Chief Theoretical Knowledge Instructor (CTKI) about what to expect over the coming weeks with Ryanair and when we can expect to be flying, but some big steps and exams before then! It was really informative and cemented in knowledge that we’ve previously been told in small amounts of detail as well as advising us what is highly important to study in the coming weeks and what needs to be known by when. Unlike at other stages of flying, we were told that this is highly important so know the ins and outs, and this is lesser importance so only read it before bed – here everything is high priority and equal importance and needs to be known in great detail. Think about the job we’re doing and we only know some of the operating procedures because we viewed it as lesser importance than the flight crew operations manual (FCOM) for example, that’s not only putting our safety at risk but everyone else in the skies on the ground too, and although its less serious than safety, think about the reputation that will also hold with Ryanair too.
In the afternoon we received our electronic flight bags (EFB) which are iPads loaded with all the necessary documentation and apps we need to go flying with Ryanair. This involves logging into multiple accounts and setting passwords which although sounds like it shouldn’t take a whole afternoon, it does! I haven’t began to use the full function of the EFB yet, but we’ll be taught that in the weeks to come such as using the onboard performance tool to calculate our on the ground and in air performance of the aircraft.
Tuesday 25th April 2023 – Crew Resource Management (CRM)
This was a day devoted to looking at the resources available to us as crew members to ensure a safe and efficient flight. This includes communication between the crew members as well as using other information too to inform us of what’s going on around us – this builds a mental model which the more we share of our own mental picture we’re building of a situation the better equipped we are to deal with what’s happening. This isn’t limited to emergencies, this is why we brief as pilots before every flight about everything that goes on and what we expect to occur. We do look at previous crashes and prevented crashes and discuss what went well as well as what went wrong and from this we learn – it is this crucial step where we learn from our mistakes that makes aviation so safe today, but we’re not complacent and always looking to learn to prevent a disaster before it happens. After class, we went for our uniform fitting and got measured for our Ryanair uniforms, and looking at myself in the mirror wearing my uniform with pride… that felt good.
Wednesday 26th April 2023 – CRM Day 2
Another day of CRM and honing our skills and opening discussions to become more effective as a team. I couldn’t say if it was organised this way deliberately, most likely it was, but these two days also served as a great ice-breaker between everyone. This time we were allocated an accident that we had to research from the data given and say what went wrong in terms of CRM and any recommendations we would make and what we’d learnt from it and can take forwards with us in our flying careers. We then in the afternoon cumulated everything we learned over the two days to give our golden rules as to what we’re going to take forwards, and the number one that kept on coming up was communication and not rushing into decision, communicate what we see and what we think is happening and receive feedback from the person sitting next to you, ATC, cabin crew and any available resource to come to an agreed decision.
Thursday 27th April 2023 – Safety & Emergency Procedures I
The day was all devoted to the safety and emergency procedures put in place by Ryanair to keep ourselves and pilots safe, cabin crew safe and our passengers safe – not to mention in keeping everyone onboard safe, this help to ensure those around us in the skies and on the ground are also safe. This included looking at various parts of the airport and the requirements to get into each section, the necessary documents we need to carry, the documents onboard the aircraft and those that are stored in our EFB. We looked at the cockpit door and how we’re safe in the event of someone trying to get into the cockpit, I hate to spoil anyones plot, but you’re not going to get in! Not only is it electronically locked shut, we also have the use of a deadbolt to stop anyone getting in. Remember how I was saying we learn from our accidents, we can thank September 11th for these improved safety measures.
That evening, everyone on FR2333 and a few people from FR2334 (a course that started the same day as us) and went out for a curry as a group. This was a really good evening, stories being told of back home, experiences when flying and just getting to know each other in a relaxed environment rather than always being in a serious environment! Not to mention, curry and a few beers will always go down nicely for me!
Friday 28th April 2023 – Swimming and Safety & Emergency Procedures II
The morning we started off at a nearby hotel swimming! This wasn’t a leisurely dip in the pool and then a sauna and steam room to relax us after a so far busy week! Instead, it was ensuring we could swim incase of a ditching. We got into the pool and had swim one side to the other, we then had to float on our backs, put on our life jackets, pass the straps around our waist and clip as the side, pulling the strap to secure. We then had to blow into the tube to inflate our life jackets, and then we bobbed about a bit while waiting for others to be fully ready, then we partnered up, and swam with our partner holding them afloat from one side then were pulled back; life jacket deflated and out of the pool and we were done. We then got back to the classroom and then our security exam in the afternoon which I passed with 100%. 1 exam done and full marks so I’m rather happy with that! After that, we then went into the ‘fire chamber’ where as a pair we had to don personal breathing equipment (PBE) and gloves then put out an electrical fire based on what we had learnt. Following on from this, we then made our way down to Stanstead for our final day of training.
Saturday 29th April 2023 – Safety & Emergency Procedures III
Our final day before heading onto distance learning and this was a continuation from the last 2 days. We went into the mock up aircraft and could see some what we’d already been taught being put into action, as well as learning how to open and close the doors, cockpit windows, seeing where some of the safety and emergency equipment was stored and what to do in an emergency. This did include going down the emergency exit slide – not so much of a slide but more of a controlled drop! We did it as if it was an emergency and one after the other as quickly as you can, and I think that’s also so you don’t think how high it is with the slide only there to really catch you from hitting the floor! We then had 2 more exams, our dangerous goods exam and our safety & emergency procedures exam, both of which I scored 100%, and again I’m over the moon with these 2 scores.
Now I’m onto distance learning. We all went home to wherever home is on Saturday 29th April 2023 and would be back to East Midlands on Wednesday 17th May 2023 for our systems refresher and exam on the Friday. It’s going to be 2 weeks of really hard work and long days, but knowing what the prize is going to be in the end, it’s all going to be worth it as I’m going to have an ‘office’ with the best views in the world flying across Europe in The Boeing 737!
