Originally Posted by
AirWillie
Ab initios work other places because there's a gap between a 172 and a 737, they can't get experienced pilots so they have to make their own. With so many qualified pilots here I don't think we'll see ab intio for a very long time. To people that think it's not fair, it's for the best. The article did a good job of rasing the other point, yes it's going to be harder for people to start flying, but what about when you actually make it to an airline? Right now, all that means is horrible QOL and low pay for years. So is it worth it anyways?
Personally I think a varied general avaition background makes for better pilots, especially here in the US where the airline folks have to mix it up with bug smashers and all sorts of other operators, sometimes at uncontrolled airfields. This sort of background is not so important for the rest of the world...in most other places airlines have the skies pretty much to themselves.
However...I might not be opposed to an ab-initio program here. While suspect there will always be CFI jobs, who knows if there will be enough intermediate 91/135 work in larger ME airplanes to provide experience for all the pilots needed by the airlines.
The good thing about ab-initio is that it can be VERY selective...offering free training and an airline job might attract some talent, especially kids without a lot of money who might be very motivated. Also if they airline have to actually pay to train their employees, they might have a vested interest in taking care of them in the long run.
For any endeavor you would ideally want talented people with a lot of experience, but if you can't have both I would prefer talent, which can be trained in the long run.