American and Southwest Pilots Trained for Boeing 737 Max 8 With a Brief Online Course, Unions Say

Pilots who were training to transition from flying previous Boeing 737 models to the newer 737 Max 8 jets were given a short online course to complete, pilots unions for two major U.S. airlines told CNN.The course was described by Allied Pilots Association representative Captain Dennis Tajer as a 56-minute online course that was completed on an iPad. Tajer acknowledges that the brief transition course are often sufficient for talented pilots, however the course he took didn't include any mention of the MCAS system now under investigation as a potential root cause in two recent Boeing 737 Max 8 crashes.The Allied Pilots Association (APA) is the labor union that represents pilots for American Airlines which was recently forced to ground 24 of its Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft after the deadly crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302.  Continue reading...