Originally Posted by
rickair7777
They do that overseas and they get computer programmers who seem to have trouble actually flying an airplane if God-forbid they should ever have to do that. How many airliners have crashed overseas in the last decade? How many here in the US (we account for a disproportionate share of total world-wide flying).
Military comes closest, but their screening is rigorous and their training is unforgiving. Even then, the ones who fly solo have ejection seats, and they use them on a regular basis.
An FO's *primary* role (once off IOE) is to be a backup PIC, not an apprentice getting OJT.
Fortunately the colgan families don't seem inclined to let this one go easily, so I doubt any lobbying will stand up to political and media scrutiny.
From firsthand anecdotal experience, I disagree. I do believe there are some stick and rudder, hand-eye-coordination skills from flying 1500 hours ASEL, but 121 is a totally different world. If anything, I'd say there's negative transfer from a Cessna to a jet (the ol' chop and drop, for example, that has wrecked airplanes). Even the SA gained from flying VFR everywhere with students is totally different from 121 IFR. I think there are much better ways to ensure high-quality airline pilots and the FAA should redesign a separate training pipeline for people who want to be career airline pilots. The current system of piling high-interest pilot training debt on student loan debt, then taking a barely liveable wage for a few years to time build, is just not that enticing to most 19 year olds.