“How does it feel to get back in the air after so much time on furlough?” and “What does it take to retrain to get your skills back?” are just a couple of questions I am asked by Chris Haslam of the Sunday Times (see article here), as he recognised that his aviation enthusiast readers (aka ‘avgeeks’!) wanted to know about the ins and outs of the retraining of an airline pilot.  Although there’s no way I can compete with a professional writer on this front, I thought I’d share my own perspective on the retraining process with you……

First off, it was annual SEP – Safety and Emergency Procedures, covering a wide range of different areas such as Fire & Smoke, Human Factors, Security and a general briefing on the latest in the constantly changing Company plan.  It was great to get back in the Office and meet up with old colleagues, although what used to be a 2 or 3 day course has, like so many courses, become mainly online learning and meant that we were only in the Office for one day.  There are some things that absolutely can’t be done at home, such as opening an aircraft door or putting out a simulated fire!  The Manager’s briefing was fascinating, as we heard about the challenges that the airline has faced during the pandemic and the general plan going forward; it’s clear that Virgin has become much more streamlined and flexible, having to adapt to an ever-changing landscape.  For instance, it’s currently keeping it’s head above water largely through cargo-only flights which is a first in it’s 36 year old history.

Now onto the crucial part – getting requalified on type.  Before being put on furlough I’d been flying the Airbus330, but these aircraft were still grounded, meaning retraining onto the A350.  This is our new large aircraft that has only just come into service to replace our retiring 747 fleet and I simply couldn’t wait to get my hands on it!  But before I could be sent off to Airbus HQ in Toulouse, my A330 rating had to be revalidated (for the Avgeeks out there, the A330/A350 is a common type rating and eventually I will be flying both as a “single fleet”), meaning two days in the simulator, consisting of 2 hours pre- and post-briefing and 4 hours in the “box”.  We had just the first day to practice all our normal and abnormal procedures and then straight into the checkride the following day – a real baptism of fire.  However, it all came flooding back -a relief after such a long time off and a pleasing benefit of all those years of flying the big jets and proof that our long-term memories really do work!

Next, it was off to Toulouse for a week of ground school followed by a week of simulator training. Having completed numerous type ratings throughout my career, this was my first course to be conducted by the Manufacturer’s, something I felt very fortunate to be able to do. The city itself is absolutely beautiful and, although France was in full lockdown mode, it was still wonderful to walk along the river and through the city streets to clear the head after a busy day at work – and, of course, being pilots, we still managed to find a local watering hole that was serving drinks through a hole in the wall!

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Groundschool was hard work, the computer-based training making your eyes cross and your head hurt by the end of the day, but there’s no escaping computers these days. It was a relief to get the exam in the bag and move onto the simulator phase where we had a superb ex-French Air Force lady pilot to take us through the course. And, right from the start, my sim partner Rob and I realised what a monumental step-up this amazing new aircraft is and were suitably impressed by it. There’s nothing that hasn’t been carefully thought through by Airbus – it’s extremely ergonomic and intuitive, having lots of extra bells and whistles and flies like a dream…..well, certainly in the simulator, but how about for real??!

I hoped that I might be lucky enough to get a tour around the assembly line and managed to secure not one, but two tours. The first was to visit one of our very own aircraft which I will soon be flying around the world; G-VTEE is named “Rosie Lee” (I love our aircraft names – do read this fascinating article about how they get their names here) and was going through her final checks before being picked up by a couple of Virgin pilots. It was a bit like going to a car showroom, with that distinctive new smell along with plastic everywhere to ensure that the swarm of technicians going over every minute detail on the airframe would not cause any damage.

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After my training at Airbus was complete, my friend in Sales very kindly organised for me to have an exclusive tour around the factory. It was incredible to see these huge behemoths on an enormous assembly line and gave me a real insight into how parts that are manufactured in the UK, Spain, Germany and other parts of France all come together, a truly logistical feat. After the tour, I was treated to a 5 course lunch in the VIP Suite – a huge thanks to Isabelle for organising such an interesting a unique day for me!

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My Line Training consisted of two flights to JFK with a Training Captain in the right-hand seat, followed by a Checkride to Lagos and finishing off with a Final Line Check back to JFK. The aircraft really lived up to my expectations and is an absolute joy to fly and, after 2.5 months of training, it’s nice to go back to being just a regular Line Captain. My first two flights have been cargo ‘exemption’ flights to Johannesburg; the exemption is from the CAA to allow us to operate a 27 hour duty, as we cannot enter South Africa with the current Covid restrictions. It requires 7 pilots and 4 cabin crew to complete and takes a vital 30+ tonnes of cargo in each direction – it’s certainly strange to experience the aircraft cabin without any passengers but it’s a great team effort and brings vital cash into the Company. The cargo department have been instrumental in securing these valuable contracts – the latest one being a trip to Seoul with a shuttle to Xiamen, a trip that I will be doing a couple of times next month. Interesting times!

I hope you’ve enjoyed a little window into the world of an airline pilot and what is required for us to be revalidated and ensure that our skills and proficiency is at top level. I also sincerely hope that, in the not-too-distant future, pandemic-permitting, you will one day be able to be transported away somewhere exotic on one of our brand new A350s and experience firsthand the beauty of flight in this futuristic new jet. If you do, and you hear my voice over the PA, please do come up and say hallo and I can show you around my amazing office when we land!