Originally Posted by
pete2800
Let's talk about Renslow, since you brought him up. Do you know what his history is?
He started out like we all do, as a student pilot. That means that aside from a few solo hours, there's always someone next to him to bail him out if he should make a truly disastrous decision. He passed (eventually) the necessary check-rides and earned a Commercial certificate.
He then paid for training at Gulfstream. This means that as an FO, he always had someone next to him to catch any major blunders, or unsafe decisions.
He then got hired at Colgan. As an FO. And the Captain was always there to bail him out, should he screw up in a seriously massive way.
He then upgraded. He was flying left-seat in a part 121 operation, having spent very few hours having to actually make his own decisions in an airplane. And almost zero hours in an environment where his decisions were actually the ones that would stick.
To be honest, one of the biggest lessons I learned from being a CFI was built over time. It was the emphasis and clarification that the only level of safety that was going to be enforced, was mine. There's no one else to help anymore. Looking back, that was absolutely invaluable time spent as PIC. Not just flying around by myself where I can control (mostly) the situations that arise, but by flying with new and different people consistently, who will always do the unexpected.
Agreed.
Obviously there is going to be a varied level of talent out there and many pilots are going to be capable of performing the job at very high levels with much less than 1500 hrs. I began my first 121 job at about a thousand hours and never had any problem. I have a close family member who is a physician and I can guarantee that he was proficient long before his "training" was complete. Does that mean we reduce the minimum training to the level of the best of us, or do we set the bar to a high level that not only ensures safety, but also reasonable barriers to entry.
The legacy carriers have always required greater levels of qualification, because they could. There was more competition because the jobs were better. I think it is in all our interests, even for those just starting out, that the bar remains high.
Now does requiring greater levels of qualification make the industry safer? At a minimum it will not make it more unsafe.