Originally Posted by
frozenboxhauler
I actually know quite a bit about China ops. How long is the training that qualifies one to become a commercial pilot in China? I would think that it would take at least 1 year just to have a commercial license that still "dripping wet". I average about 700 hours a year where I work and I fly into and out of the PRC at least 3 times a month. I'm just saying that the "experience level" is not there. This Captain could, at most, only had 4 winter seasons total. This doesn't give a lot of background to call from when faced with all of the challenges that go along with operating in the mainland. I would not want to put my family on his airplane.
I'm not begrudging this guy anything. The fact that it took me 8 years and about 7500 hours to make it to a major and then another 10 until I checked out as captain is irrelevant. You can use your equation to roughly determine the number of hours that an active commercial pilot has in the US too, but it's once they're established with their employer, not from their first "intro" flight.
fbh
I'm not questioning your knowledge of flight ops. in China simply your knowledge of how Chinese airlines hire, recruit, train and retain their workforce. Most cadets are trained in the US and receive their Multi Engine CPL in about 12 months which includes about 20 hours in a King Air. The cadets trained in China do it through a 4 year University program so much slower and much more expensive. The stateside cadets taking their "Dripping Wet" CPL and take a written test to convert it from FAA to CAAC and then start intensive Ground School and Sim training on their respective aircraft normally a 737 NG or A-320. The young Captains may not have the experience levels you are accustomed to coming from a US Major but they are safe nevertheless. At my airline we have Boeing Instructors come and teach CRM on an annual basis. They always show a safety slide comparing the various regions of the world's safety records per hours flown. The Chinese safety record actually surpasses N. America. I am not saying it is more safe simply they have a lower accident rate per hour flown. As Probe indicated the pilots here are continuously monitored and scrutinized all throughout their career. The QAR data or (Quick Access Recorder) on most modern age jets record everything from a flight from initial start up until engine shut down. Any flying done outside of established criteria is recorded and displayed on a daily basis posted to a website. For example if you land more than 2000 feet down the runway a Level 1 QAR event displays. If you land more than 3000 feet down the runway a Level 2 QAR event displays. You are fined and punished if you have too many of these. All flying parameters are shown from takeoff, cruise, descent, landing, taxiing all the way up until engine shut down. We simply in the US do not scrutinize and evaluate our performance to this extent like the Chinese do. Like Probe said it is what it is here in China with fast upgrades. Yes they are inexperienced compared to a N. American pilot but they are safe and they are continuously monitored, tested and evaluated. In regards to flying hours, I worked for a US Major for 13 years and never flew more than 600 hours per year and averaged under 500 hours. The Chinese simply fly much much more on average. Schedulers are rewarded for efficiently utilizing their pilots right up to the 1000 hour max. limitation. If you have 10,000 hours in China you have been flying for about 10 years. If you have 10,000 hours in the US most pilots took at least 15 years to acquire this. The productivity here is much more extreme with long long duty days some close to 16 hours and massive ATC flow control. Remember the Chinese military OWNS all the airspace and can close it on a moments notice.