A co-pilot must have gained 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 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.
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