Originally Posted by Denti

Well, i do fly in europe and have been brought up in that system. So i do have some practical experience in that system. Yes, there are some bad pilots, as there are in systems where you have to have quite a lot more experience to get hired. Incidentally like both Colgan pilots had. We do hire mostly MPL cadets these days, preferably from our own flight school, next in line would be internal applicants from other schools (flying as cabin crew, working in other departments etc.) and after that lufthansa cadets. MPL students usually bring around 100 hours in real aircraft and around 200 in simulators, all of them flying using airline SOPs from the start in a multi-crew environment. The last audit from our partners in oneworld, including auditors from american airlines, showed the same level of safety as our counterparts in the us and elsewhere have.



The first part is true, the written test for the EASA CPL (JAA doesn't exist anymore) is big on theoretical knowledge. The second part is not. There is no extra rank, and they spend around 100 hours flying with a training captain during LIFUS (line flying under supervision), usually 1,5 months on the line. After that they are released with all the rights and options that any FO has, however, they may not be rostered with an inexperienced captain for the the first 150 hours. Other airlines might have extra rules, and i believe that some do have a second officer status that they have for the first 1500 hours of line experience, but that is actually unusual and not done in my country, except for the one airline that hires MPL students directly on the 777.



Indeed, those are very good ideas. However, they are not a requirement for the ATPL.



Well, over here there is no commercial single engine operation to speak of, certainly not in piston powered planes. Multi engine turbine powered commercial operation is usually required by law to be flown in multicrew operation. And for those aiming to fly a C172 a PPL is enough. But yes, one big difference between europe and the US is the fact that the GA market is not a viable route to the airlines for most pilots, both in size and job opportunities. GA is a much much smaller sector.



Oh, personally i couldn't care less, i never even held a CPL, i started out with an ATPL right out of flight school. And my first commercial airplane was the 737. My point was, that current numbers between western european countries and the US do not show a significant difference to support the ATPL (wrongly called the 1500 hour) rule.