This is the first time that I've posted in this thread but it is a great read. Thanks, JB!
I'm a train driver here in Sydney & we are often compared to the world of aviation - indeed some of the concepts (eg CRM) & people have come across.
I know that driving a train is a totally different way of flying altogether but my recent experience reminds me of concepts I've read in this thread.
To use the aviation terms, I have to be type related on all the different trains in my fleet, not just one type like the an airline pilot would. I recently was upgraded to the new type of train & I was one of the last to be upgraded in my depot. This was despite my skill with computers & glass coughpits - we've had a glass coughpit in one way or another since 1988 (best described as half steam, half glass) to the modern stuff (al l glass.) If it was me doing the rostering, I would have started with the trainers & then started then with the younger (in age) people - especially on a new type.
Some of my older colleagues struggle with a glass coughpit & it is easy to see why. Many of them are really steam era & a computer is strange to them - pen & paper works for them. In fact, I remember doing an off train section of the conversion course & some of the senior guys had to be really convinced that it was indeed ok to touch the screen on the computer.
I can't see the need to advertise glass coughpit experience in a job ad, either. I don't think that would be the deciding factor to see if someone gets an interview/job.
As an aside, until my latest conversion course, I'd had more stick time in a B737 sim (2 hours) than my own simulators. I've got an experience booked for an A320 sim at Bankstown & I did an hour on a racing sim on the Gold Coast on the weekend.
