Originally Posted by
rickair7777
That wasn't the purpose, although it may be a consequence. GL and GIA may be done, but I doubt the puppy mills are going anywhere, they'll still be able to suck enough people in. They'll offer CFI jobs to their grads (at least one hour/month guaranteed!) and zero-to-ATP time building programs for the well-heeled. The good news is that while starry-eyed wannabe skygods would instantly sign up for the $180K loan needed to go direct from zero to regional FO, no lender in his right mind would go for that, so the latter option will be available only if daddy can cover down.
I think MPL would be a viable option for US regionals. I think universities like Riddle should develop a MPL program to be used in conjunction with a EtD type program. They could call it Riddle to Delta, or RtD. The candidate would get a 4 yr. degree and a ERJ-170 type rating. They would have to go through a real Delta interview before being accepted into the program and upon graduation, they would go fly at a partnered regional for a few years for some seasoning and then go directly to Delta with no further screening required.
This would alleviate the regional pilot shortage while giving the majors a steady supply of pre-screened candidates with the proper type of experience.
Now, before you write and tell me how expensive the above would be, and it would be expensive, they could institute a means test for funding. Meaning that if the candidate and/or the candidate's parents have enough money themselves, then they would have to self-fund 100% of the program, sliding down a scale to 100% funded by the government and/or the airline themselves.