ShyGuy

Trolling aside, there is another system to be considered/looked at. Pilot upbringing in terms of training and career progression. In the US, we go through GA flying and then the first jet job is typically regional airlines flying many short hops in all sorts of weather and runway conditions. By the time a pilot gets to a Boeing or Airbus in this country, they have thousands of hours and several years of experience.

Compare that to many parts of the word (Indonesia and Ethiopia included, but they are hardly alone). There is no GA to speak of. No regional airlines either. Just one or two national carriers of that country. They take expats and get them when they can but in today’s industry, no one from the west is leaving for the east because conditions are good here with plentiful jobs. So in many of those countries, the career track is basically ab initio into an Airbus and Boeing.

In the Ethiopian case, both the CA and the FO were ab initio and the FO was brand new low time. In Lion Air, the CA had 853 total hours before flying a 737 and then all his time was on that. The FO was similar, 888 hrs total before flying a 737 and all his time was on that.

Here’s an example, an Indian CA for Jet Airways bragging about being the youngest at 25 yrs old, going by the social media handle “Boeing Boy”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzV06PeKVpg

When MCAS operates, what do you think Boeing Boy would do with his vast experience and background?



This is a legit problem for which I’m not sure there is an answer. Those airlines need pilots but there’s no GA or regional airlines to pull from, and expats are in short numbers.