Originally Posted by
IronCondor
Well, the fact of matter is the Europeans can and continue to safely put 300 hour CPLs in the right seat of 737s and A320s and we in the US can too with the right training and mentorship. I've been in the software industry 25 years and I see the same attitude from some folks who went to college and got the 4 years computer science degree. I guess it's human nature to be want to keep the barrier to entry high so the pool of qualified applicants is smaller and salaries are bigger. My specialty is database development and management. They barely scratch the surface of this specialty in the comp science degree programs so everyone has to learn for themselves and from the veterans when they reach industry. The market was screaming out for qualified candidates that it could find or afford. This problem has been solved by technology and the cloud (do more with less). Bottom line, technology will eat your lunch too in aviation and single pilot airliners will start appearing. How much fun will your $300k+ job be then sitting there on your own for hours and hours trying to stay awake. Good luck with that Chief.
I think the most valuable experience is what is most closely related to your job, and 1200 hours of CFIing VFR is overkill doing a job that isn't that similar to 121. The Air Force trains people to fly F22s, C17s, etc with less flight time than a CPL, but it costs $3M, is very standardized, and pushes very smart, dedicated people to their limits throughout the whole program. I'm ok with them lowering the hour requirements as long as new pilots get high-quality, commensurate training. If Republic wants to hire people at 250 hours, but then require them to complete a year-long, standardized, 121 syllabus, with 100 graded sims, and high standards, then I'm ok with that. If they want to hire 250-hour pilots, and then add a few lessons to their existing FO syllabus, maybe pay for some time in a Cessna, and call it good, then I hope the execs go to jail for negligence when something goes wrong.
Break break
Removing a pilot makes the only remaining pilot a single point of failure, and there's a reason why redundant systems are a thing, especially in aviation. They might reduce the required augmented crew for long-haul, because it's mostly low workload, but when the sterile light is on, you need two pilots up there.