Originally Posted by
CaptainTeezy
Well said Sky...well said.
On another note...I think pilots are going to pay a HEAVY price for demeaning our own jobs. We have degraded ourselves and jets by flying them at the regional level. I personally, as a pilot don't have a respect for this industry as a whole. Everyone accepts that a 250 hour rookie with an RJ course is ready to fly 50+ passengers around. I think the ATP PIC min should be raised to 1,000 PIC in airplanes.
And I am sorry if you disagree, but this is why we are seeing "regional" jets getting bigger and bigger. I fear we have opened a door that can never be closed...the RJs are here and they will soon be carrying 150 seats for mediocre pay. Regionals and majors will merge...and that will be the end to any quality of life with an airline.
I agree with you that airline management has succeeded in trashing the integrity of our jobs through pay cuts, major airline job shrinkage and scope release. If they had their way, all airline pilots would get the regional pay.
ATP should be minimum with 1000 hours PIC time, either turbine or recip, to fly for any airline. 19 to 20 years old with 250 hours just does not cut the mustard in most passengers mind. Several passengers have commented on this several weeks ago on one of my flights. Part of the problem is the major airline hiring requirement requiring 1000 hours turbine time. This standard was set by airline pilots who came from the military ranks and who are entrenched at most major airline top tier, which favors the hiring from their military ranks. While this turbine requirement allows military guys with zero part 121 experience to get hired at most major airlines, this hiring standard forces guys who came from the civilian route to fly for regionals to get their turbine time. Cargo and corporate is one way to get this turbine time, but it is not easy to get corporate flying gig when you are just starting out.
Only way to get rid of this archaic requirement is to have all brand name flying, whether it be UAL, DAL, NWA, or AA be flown by respective airline pilots. There would be no regional airlines because all pilots flying under a particular flag will be under that seniority list.