I've had neighbors that were part of the shutdown. They've since graduated and left for their facilities. They stayed here an extra month longer than they had to. Which meant that they also got an extra month to practice and get their stuff down. Only ones that failed were from nerves (What their classmates have told them)
I've personally seen students get escorted out by security after failing their final evals. They don't get recycled. They send you home. I think some elect to stay as RPOs?
I'm just not sure how easy to it to "get things down" without an instructor. In basics maybe a blocks worth, but non radar? How well would you practice back home, without classmates? Hell you could practice wrong for a month a completely fuck yourself over. Maybe if they were a few days away from non radar evals, they could master it and get ALL 14 of them points. Radar? Can't practice that anywhere but the academy.
The way I see it, there's a small window of people who could have truly benefited from the shutdown and used the time to practice and have everything start to click. Those people are gone now.
The people leaving now were in basics during the shutdown. How much could you, I, or anyone really practice non radar or radar if we were in their shoes?
Complaints matter here. I've known RPOs and Instructors who were canned because a trainee was starting to drown. And if a trainee has a valid reason, and can take someone else down with them, it's possible for them to get some points back. I'm talking PETTY SHIT. "I was offended by way the RPO answered the line with 'oh heyyyy, Jackson Approach'. It was very inappropriate. And it threw me off." That kind of shit.(she didn't end up passing btw). And the FAA, SAIC, and CNI all have to look into that crap.
A month long shutdown is a pretty damn valid reason. And I'm sure the FAA wouldn't want to go through and deal with every single complaint. I'm curious as to when those trainees will be out of the academy, because I want to see the next class' pass rates.
Im bracing for a decline in pass rates, but the hopeful side of me is agreeing with those who said the newer evaluators are making a difference. Also the FAA only took 500 people from the '18 bid vs the usual 1500-2000. With so many facilities going red, I just can't see a good reason for writing up too many "over restrictions" and "controller judgment" errors... But hey, it's the FAA.