B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 210; Flight Crew Total 14166; Flight Crew Type 5188
Training / Qualification
No Specific Anomaly Occurred All Types
General None Reported / Taken
Company Policy
During training the class of 5 new hire pilots and 5 [current company] pilots being trained on the 737 were told that the MEL was in the iPad and that they should look at it. I pointed out that [my air carrier] had not used a paper log book for nearly 20 years and that [my air carrier] had never carried the MEL. I asked when MEL training would be given. The answers was that it was not in the syllabus and that if I wanted it I should ask the fleet to provide it.The idea that pilots; who are completely unfamiliar with the logbook and MEL procedures; should teach themselves how to make the log book entries and then to defer MEL items using a procedure which was never actually explained to them falls far short of the level of proper training which is required to safely operate a 737. A failure to provide this training is a prescription for either 1) improper entries to be made in the log book; 2) the illegal dispatch of an aircraft because the MEL was not properly recorded or applied; and 3) the potentially operation of an non-airworthy aircraft.
B737 Captain reported concern with the lack of training in MEL procedures during transition classes in a new aircraft fleet.