Originally Posted by
pitch mode
Correct on many levels. Some regional aircraft can't handle a full boat AND an alternate. Kicking pax off for weight or denying jumpseaters is always bad. Some countries hire ab initio (Lufthansa for e.g.). Germany isn't full of "will they lower the mins?" "will they find out about my checkride failure?". Will mainline take back ALL flying? I guess that means will they fly larger aircraft to small airports and/or fly larger regional aircraft. Until then, there is probably a training website on the right that advertises a CRJ program for 4 grand that willl make you more competitive. Even better, how 'bout willflyforfood.com? Seriously? Are there any willdoelectricalwork/dentalwork/accounting/autorepair/healthcare for food sites out there? jeesh
I'm not quite sure what your point is here but let me assure you that European countries are going through their own challenges with costs. There is a great wave of low-cost carriers in Europe putting huge pressure on the European legacies like Lufthansa and BA and Air France and KLM.
I myself got into flying in Switzerland and came up the
ab initio route there.
There's lots of talk there about the same things as in the US. Mins over there are mins and by that I mean that there are people starting Airbus training with as little as 200 hours or in some cases, less than that even.
Even so, there is great pressure on costs and some traditional carriers, Iberia for example, who are starting 'airlines within an airline'. They're starting Iberia Express. Except it's not a traditional "regional" airline like we understand it to be in the US. It's Iberia Airbus aircraft, flown by a new 'B' scale of crew member. That is basically not allowed here in the US due to scope limitations but don't think AA or United wouldn't do it if they could. And I promise that there will be more of it. Another example is my former airline in Switzerland, now owned by Lufthansa, flying domestic routes within Germany. This has, rightfully, caused an uproar at LH amongst the pilots.
There are fewer "regionals" in Europe in the same way we think of them here but there's other fishy stuff that goes on there too. And pretty much everyone these days over there is "Pay to Play". It's rare now that new pilots get full scholarships for flight school like they used to. That's pretty much a thing of the past, even at the legacy Euro carriers. Many, many pilots in Europe have bought their own 737 or A320 type ratings.
As long as people do this, it will continue to bring down the conditions for the pilots. Everyone understandably wants to be competitive.
But how is it really much different from a major US 737 operator which has a de facto 737 type requirement. Not strictly required to get an interview but you have to buy it to go to class. And this is a major airline. Why doesn't anyone raise a stink about this?