A co-pilot must have sufficient experience on an aircraft
smaller than the Boeing 777 before he can be promoted to this wide body aircraft.
Different Airlines have different criteria for promotion. As a general rule, a
co-pilot who is currently flying the Boeing 777 would have at least 5 years of
Airline experience.
Most Captains and Co-pilots on the Boeing 777 are trained in
Seattle in the USA followed by local training at their respective area of
operations. They are subsequently checked into various airports before being
certified qualified to operate the Boeing 777 on that particular route.
All trainees onto the Boeing 777 are fully qualified pilots
but they require a type conversion onto this particular aircraft. The duration
of this training may take about two to three months.
The average age of a Co-pilot is between 25 to 28 years
whereas a Captain would be in the region of about 29 years or above. Therefore,
those aircrew who are selected to fly the Boeing 777 are fairly experienced by
the time they are promoted onto the aircraft.
Information of Interest to Passengers
A Captain can be identified by the four gold bars he wears
on his shoulder or on the sleeves of his uniform jacket.
A Co-pilot wears three gold bars or less.
