ha ha off course you do have interesting friends I also do know someone who recently got hired as an FO on the Kingfisher A320, not sure his times, but I am sure its proby around the same number or maybe higher.

 

Ugh, very true. At today's exchange rate, I have paid them $1500 dollars just for the privilege of taking their written exams and $500 just for the first class medical. I hear it subsidizes the restaurant upstairs

 

I personally believe that training plays a huge roll. In America we waste a lot of time training our pilots VFR and small plane procedures. The military and European cadet factories focus on big jet stuff. It makes a difference. Personally I do not think a pilot should be forced to learn all that other stuff if they are going to go straight to an airlines.

Flying a big plane is not all that hard just different. To put a guy in the right seat with 250 hours of 172 time is not the same as a guy who has 250 hours total of turbine twin time. We could change things here and get a better result.

Skyhigh

 

Hence the purpose of the MPL, which is already in effect in some countries, whether you agree with it or not.

The military training is also similar, where training on high performance aircraft begins at an early stage, but the average Joe wouldn't be able to afford that kind of training even if it was offered to tue civilian populace.

 

What do you mean "big jet stuff".
I'll agree that the military focuses on MISSION oriented 'stuff', but I don't understand what you are keying on here.

USMCFLYR

 

"I can't imagine how it would be to have around 500 hours and be flying a jet."

It just depends on your training. I was a 727 Fo with 500hr. Then 727 Capt with 2000hr. US 121 carrier and no pay for training.

 

It happens in South America too. My 320 training starts in June and right now I have 600 hours.

MDT06

 

I disagree by a factor of a 1000, as somebody who has spent considerable time training and checking pilots in transport category A/C's I can tell you that "stick and rudder" skills, highly developed in pilots with tons of hand flying backgrounds, like pilots with acrobatic maneuvering skills such as in the military or pilots that spend lots of time doing single pilot stuff (instructing, hand flying cargo operators, even flying banners on a beach) without question did a LOT better than pilots that had mostly automation time under their belts, they were able to think outside the box and apply common sense outside of the profile way better and stabilize their approaches (one of the biggest problems in puppy mill pilots) way better. Companies that place a lot of importance in hand flying do train their pilots accordantly and include a lot of hand flying training in their sim sessions and encourage hand flying in the line.

If you give me a pilot with nothing but 800 hours total time and 500 of them are flying a Queen Air at night, single pilot flying checks or pulling G's and doing carrier landings at night and a pilot product of a puppy mill with 2,000 hours total time as an F/O flying an RJ in a company that has a highly automated culture. The first example will have his or her approaches stable and their cross wind technique ironed out in the 76 in half the time, without a doubt

 

Ah yes. Skip the foundation and go straight to the important stuff.

 

"How can you have any pudding if you don't eat you meat?"

Okay, rather out of context, but hey I couldn't resist.

Sky, you are dead wrong on this one. They may be quicker to adapt to rote procedures, and may be able to regurgitate the information required to pass a checkride, but there is NO WAY they have the airmanship or judgment that they should to be occupying the seat of a CFR 121 common carrier. It's a farce, and I for one DO NOT believe the European model is one we should emulate.