Originally Posted by
sqwkvfr
No, it is not.
This ATP requirement is going to lead to a shortage of people with 1500 hours willing to work for regional airlines and a subsequent move toward a "frozen ATP" like the JAA/EASA countries (states?) of Europe.
....a system where only the rich get to play and any idiot with the money can find himself with a "frozen" ATPL, 200-some hours and a direct entry into the right seat of a mainline aircraft.
This 1500 hour ATP requirement is a bad thing....no matter how well intentioned, it will backfire and not work to our benefit.
Remember, you heard it here first.
???? makes no sense at all.
If we go to a frozen ATP, we would be right back where we started...250-hour airline pilots, which almost everyone (even the public and congress) can see is a bad thing.
The Europeans get away with it because they really have no other means of acquiring flight time and because their standards are much higher.
If we included european-style ground school and testing for the frozen ATP that would not be so bad at all. It would require real effort and dedication to complete the training...that would scare off many of our entry-level types today. And the airlines would have to pay well enough to attract the type of individual who can excel in school...ie people with other options.
Not sure why you would need to be rich though? But here's a fact of life: money makes almost anything easier. You can enjoy comforts above and beyond your current payscale and you don't have to stress so much over the economic consequences of failure.