Originally Posted by
johnso29
Because an interview, training program, & IOE are not indicative of what we as pilots face on the line everyday. Just because someone can pass these things does not mean they are fit for the job. WX, fatigue, broken airplanes, hunger, 16 hour duty days, and 5 legs a day can not be duplicated in the sim. If said new hires are going to an RJ operator it's likely they won't see a 5 leg day either as their Check Airman probably avoids those kinds of trips.
A 1500 hour pilot is without a doubt, flat out more experienced then a 250 hour pilot mill grad. Period. A 1500 hour pilot will have more situational awareness, & this is an extremely important aspect of our job. More & more Regional pilot groups are flying into Mexico every year. It is a threatening environment that will eat you up if you don't know what you're doing. You'd better have a plan B, C, & D because when your shooting that non precison approach at night in mountainous terrain with thunderstorms in the area you need to know where your going to go if you go missed. Oh, but where will you go if you lose an engine on the missed? Can you make your first alternate with that mountain in way? Just a few examples here. I could go on & on.
How many times does this industry have to shed blood to get some stinking rules changed? Better rest rules, better work rules, and more strict bottom line requirements will help. It's time for change, or more blood will be shed. We as an industry have been too lucky for far too long.
Noted...like I said, I'm not necessarily saying that raising minimums to 1500 hours is a bad thing, I'm just saying I can see it from the view of a student pilot as well. Just having 1500 hours does not guarantee that you will be exposed to the examples you have posted above. If I were to have 1500 hours tooling around in a Cessna 150 as a flight instructor, I wouldn't necessarily be exposed to 16 hour days, reduced rest, dealing with MX control/dispatch, etc. I'm not saying that flight instructing is not valuable, I agree that a 1500 hour pilot will most likely have better decision making abilities since they are exposed to more. I say most likely because you can fly for 1500 hours and not run into a single problem, while at the same time somebody else could fly for 100 hours and have an engine failure/fire right after takeoff. It's all relative, which is why I think quality of flight time and experience should still be taken into consideration.