Originally Posted by
thepaxman
i'm not sure what the article's point was but up until the last couple of paragraphs i think it's a pretty fair assessment that the general flying public have of flying on a regional - rightly or wrongly.
i fly on rj's because i have to. i'd prefer not too but that's me. the rj's are smaller. they are a little noisier (except for when you sit at the back of an md-80
). and to be honest i too have noticed, that on a couple of occasions, the co-pilots have been young. this is not a knock on them but just what i have noticed. most don't realize the training that these guys go through and just see the 22 yr old guy programming the autopilot when boarding the plane. hence the public perception.
I can understand this, what is offensive is when the public sees me (I just turned 24) and automatically thinks that they are unsafe. I worked extremely hard for the past 7 years since I started flying to get to where I am today. (Even though I am furloughed now...). I flew in all types of weather, flew skydivers for two years in raggedy old airplanes, had my fair share of experiences and situations that were handled accordingly... all before coming to the airlines.
It probably is comforting to see 'gray' hair on your pilots when you step on board, but do you know how long that gray haired pilot has been flying or what his experience is? Maybe he is a career changer that started his flight training 8 months ago at a 'pilot mill' like ATP. Just because someone is older, doesnt mean they are more experienced. I'm sure you have heard the famous quote "don't judge a book by it's cover". The same applies here.
The next time you step into an aircraft and you see that 24 year old up front, think before you assume. That 24 year old may have 3,000 hours or more and several years of experience with that airline and even more experience with other flying like banner towing, glider towing, flight instructing, flying skydivers, pipeline patrol, night cargo in cessnas, etc. We are all trained to the same standards, no matter what the experience. There are very few "Sully's" in the cockpit, and even he had to start somewhere.