Originally Posted by
captjns
Unlike the US, for example, a Dutch pilot joining KLM at an early age will be a lifer, versus US pilot going from airline to airline to airline.
Some new entrants to other carriers may start at the equivalent of a regional, then matriculating to their mainline carrier while retaining their seniority from date of hire.
Overall cheaper in the long run. Company training is complete... essentially same company SOPs throughout the various fleets too. Training limited to new aircraft types.
Disciplines of pilots outside the US are far different. Essentially training continues, usually wihtout a break from day one through the issuance of their Frozen ATPL and beyond during line training, which is based on a minimum number of sectors versus the usual 25 hours in the US.
So how is it cheaper? Looking for your insight because you clearly know more about European Ops than I do. If you can keep a bulk of your list on the lower end of the scales (US style) versus lifers residing in the top end of the scales (EU style) intuitively I would think that the EU style would be more expensive. Are the scales more elongated with lower starting wages and smaller steps? That would definitely change my assumption.