The crew who failed training and came back: what the second attempt looked like, how the airlines handle a retake and the ones who passed the second time
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#1 Trainer, Rio, and the training threads on here are mostly from people who passed. This is for the ones who did not, because in three years I have seen a handful of trainees fail a course and a share of them come back and pass, and the forum has nothing on what that looks like.
How a course ends early
A failed written exam and a failed resit (the most common). A failed practical with a failed second attempt (the door, the fire, the CPR). An attendance removal. A medical. The trainee is told the same day, the airline's HR explains the options, and the trainee goes home. It is a bad day for everyone including the trainer.
What the airlines do
Most have a policy: a trainee who failed on the exams or the practicals can reapply after a period (six months to a year), and some airlines invite the strong ones directly to the next course. A trainee removed for attendance is treated as a conduct case and the reapply is harder. A medical removal is a medical conversation and the return depends on the condition. The training bond, where one exists, is usually waived or reduced for a failed trainee at the airlines I know, because the trainee did not choose to leave.
The second attempt
The trainees who came back and passed, from what they told me and what I saw: they knew exactly which element failed them and they practised that element for months before the second course. The written exam failure came back with flashcards and a study partner from day one. The door freeze came back having said the commands out loud every day for six months. The ones who came back and failed again had assumed the second course would be different. It is the same course.
The ones who passed the second time
A trainee who failed the SEP written twice on the first course, came back eight months later, passed every exam above 95 and is a senior now. A trainee who froze at the door three times, came back a year later, and was the best door drill on the course because she had done it in her kitchen every day. A trainee who failed the CPR practical on timing and came back with a first aid certificate from a civilian course and passed in one. In every case: the specific thing, fixed, before the second course.
What I tell a failed trainee on the day
That nobody fails for intelligence. That the thing that failed them is specific and named on the report. That the second course is the same course and the preparation is what changes. And that some of the best crew I have trained were on their second course and nobody on the line knows it.
For the ones who failed
Get the report, name the element, practise that element every day for the reapply period, and apply again. The airlines want you to pass. The first course told you what to fix. That is more than most trainees ever get.
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#2 easyJet trainer, and the retake policy at ours is the same: a reapply after a period, the bond waived for a failed trainee, and the strong ones invited back. The second course is the same course. The preparation is the only variable. Isabel has it.
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#3 Ryanair, and the one who failed on my course failed the SEP resit and was told the same day. She is on the next course now with flashcards from week one. The trainers did not forget her. They remembered her name.
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#4 Ex Qantas, in airline training, and 'some of the best crew were on their second course and nobody on the line knows it' is true at every airline I know. The failed course is the one that taught them how to study.
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#5 easyJet Gatwick, and I nearly failed week 2 and the thread about the wall saved me. If I had failed, this is the thread I would have needed. The specific thing, fixed. It is the same advice from the other side of the line.
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#6 Jet2 training, and the 44 year old on my course is on her second course after failing the fire practical last year. She told the course mum on day one. She is the calmest person in the fire rig now. Isabel's story is my course.
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#7 Emirates training, and we lost one on the SEP written this week and she was told she can reapply. Reading this I will send it to her tonight. The specific thing, named, practised. Thank you.