Originally Posted by
JamesNoBrakes
Great, now you are the CEO for ABC Airlines. The hiring department has just presented you with a plan that they will get approved and signed off by insurance if you approve and sign off. To accurately assess interviewees, this will take approximately 8hrs of sim time to thoroughly evaluate and see how the applicant will do in a 2-crew environment, with various scenarios, basic skills, advanced stuff, a real "gauntlet" to see how good they really are. This will require a contract with a local Flight Safety or sim provider, and the contract will cost 10 million a year, since we won't be washing out people that have very few hours, so we'll be putting lots of people through.
Does this make sense at all? Of course not. Does 1500hrs guarantee anything? Yes, more experience. It doesn't guarentee skills, but it does guarantee a higher average level and even though there are 200hr wonders, it's not cost effective to seek them out.
I disagree. An airline would be better off ensuring a pilot was trained the right way from zero hours and provide an abinitio type experience. Just because someone logs 1500 hours in a Cessna 152 and passes an ATP check ride does not ensure this pilot is safer!! The military takes folks from zero hours and produces a safe aviator! The point is there is no evidenced based research into the congressional mandate of a 1500 hour pilot being a safer pilot! There is evidence showing military and abinitio training at least prepares the pilot with a known curriculum, documented training and not Parker pen time as suggested previously! I would rather have a 300 hour pilot that passed a rigorous program than a 1500 hour pilot that flew circles in a C152 or Parker penned their time!