Thoughts?
I don't know what Mr. Skiles did before working for USAir, but with all due respect it seems like he may be forgetting what life was like on a regional level. Of course he had greater experience when hired at USAir and of course both CA and FO had ATPs. While higher ATP mins and ATP Certs. required for all crewmembers sounds great, implementation would be difficult as gaining the experience pays worse than a regional by far! It seems to create a catch-22 that pay won't go up until experience increases and experience won't increase unless pay does.
Air travelers deserve highly experienced pilots in cockpits - Opinion - USATODAY.com
Air travelers deserve highly experienced pilots in cockpits
Jeff Skiles - Oregon, Wis.
As the co-pilot of the flight that landed in the Hudson River in January, I can speak to the fact that experience matters in my business ("
Air safety is being outsourced to the lowest bidders," Letters, Friday).
Pilots and people in the airline industry have known for some time about the issues brought up by the commuter plane that crashed into the Buffalo area in February.
(Status of commuter flights: Regional airlines carry about one of every four passengers in the USA, according to the Regional Airline Association./ 2006 photo by Al Behrman, AP)
When I was hired at my airline 23 years ago, I had nearly the
flying time of both the captain and the first officer of the Buffalo flight combined. That was the norm then. Because of dramatic reductions in compensation over the past 10 years, airline careers are no longer attractive to the best and the brightest. The race to find the applicant who will work for the minimum salary has brought about the pilot with the minimum of qualifications and experience.
The Federal Aviation Administration's requirements to hold a pilot certificate need to be dramatically increased to reflect the vast responsibilities of our profession. The minimum qualification level I suggest would require both pilots in the cockpit, not just the captain, to hold an airline transport pilot's license (ATP), as all pilots do at my airline.
Furthermore, there needs to be a significantly higher experience level than ATP minimum standards to act as a captain in a transport category aircraft. Airline flying is dramatically unforgiving of mistakes. American air travelers deserve experienced, qualified professionals at the controls of their next flight.