Originally Posted by
rickair7777
It is an unusual situation, having mostly to do with economics.
Brand-new instructors have just spent 200-300 hours pounding out the maneuvers...they can generally help others to do the same, and that is what checkrides emphasize.
While the wisdom imparted by an experienced greybeard would certainly be good stuff, most students shop with price as a significant factor or the main factor. Schools can employ low-time CFI's (who can't go anywhere else) for low-time wages and sell a low-cost package that sets the bar for industry. The good news is that there is usually someone with experience on staff, and students generally get exposed to that person also, at least in ground training...
I fly with too many mediocre, officially-certified FAA instructors in my present line of work to really think the civilian system produces pilots to what I would call a satisfactory skill level. Too many of them make me wonder if they could get a piston airplane out of a spin, fail to trim the airplane properly, fail to show an acceptable degree of skill in radio calls, do not know how to properly correct for crosswind in the flare, and are unsure of how some or many of the instruments work or even seem to have a realistic plan for an off-airport landing in the case of an engine out. They invariably come from FAA-approved 141 and sometimes 61 programs that do not include any sort of apprenticeship with an advanced pilot. The FAA primary flight training system is set up to pass students without it, and unless the student makes an individual and independent effort to seek out the association of an advanced aviator, they will not and do not find it a part of their training. Such apprenticeship will not occur until the cockpit of an airliner years later for many. Not to thread drift, but I think this is what drives the impending change in minimum hiring standards for airlines to ATP mins.