Could not have said it better myself, Thank you!

 

I think the Capt'n is getting a woody letting her fly.....JMHO

 

 

You've changed your post 3 times, I saw the initial one, had to fly and didn't get to respond in time.

The Priv/Inst/Comm-ME were obtained at local mom/pop FBO at local airports. The RJ transition course was done after that, it wasn't really ab initio, as they flight school had another program for those guys and that started with 0 time. I didn't leave GA, I tried to fly C152s but on RJ FO salary that can be hard. I still flew a little bit here and there. You call it skip experience, but the rest of the world outside the USA, what I did is routine and normal. The concept of CFIing and teaching people, flying pipeline or traffic watch, and then entering the world of regionals is all foreign to everyone outside the USA. Over in other countries, pilots are hired with either 0 time, a private license, or Comm-ME license, and put through the airline's training program. They then start as FOs on A320s or as relief officer on widebody 747s, A330s/A340s, 777s. Some of these airlines have been doing this with a good safety record, like Singapore Airlines. It depends on the airline and the training quality.

I didn't ask you to relate with it, I was just stating the facts. Maybe I have a hard time relating to those who go to a non-union bottom-barrel regional and then jump to Jetblue.


[I'm kidding]

 

As for Gulfstream Girl's attitude and 4-stripes, it's clear her colleagues are encouraging her behavior. That CA flying with her should pipe up and explain what 3-stripes and 4-stripes are, and the difference between them.

 

She's a pilot yet doesn't know the difference between 3 and 4 stripes? Not sure if that's really funny or really scary.

 

I agree with the Sgt. on this one. There is no substitute for experience. Part of that experience is building a solid foundation of stick/rudder skills, instrument procedures and scan as well as just basic airmanship, which only comes with time.

A pilot who skips that can still be taught to operate today's advanced, automated aircraft but they have little to fall back on in the event of serious failures. The nature of modern mainline airline operations does not allow a first officer the opportunity to continue to enhance his flying skills as he flies the line day to day. He needs to have a solid skill set before he shows up.

The fact that other countries have ab-initio training programs is because they have to, not because it's the best way to create a properly experienced pilot.

I'd also suggest that the safety record of these airlines is more a testament to modern aircraft, their reliability and extremely advanced systems and autopilots - not that fact that they can teach inexperienced pilots to operate them.

We've all seen the AF 447 report. That's a result of "skipping experience".

 

Adlerdriver just nailed it!

I came from the military, and I am amazed at how little actual training goes on at the 121 level. The sad thing is that people don't know what they don't know...

I am not blaming ShyGuy personally, but you have been short changed.

 

It's about the quality. You can fly a 1000 hrs or you can fly 1 hr a 1000 times. As for your testament of modern aircraft, true, but even those countries at one point had older jets too, and they did it safely. Now I'll get flak for this, but the US military pulls it off too with low time pilots. They have rigorous selection methods, and then put them through real quality training. They come out safe pilots, and fly modern fast jets with 250-500 hours.

As for AF447, you're right that it was a lack of experience, but then even a 11,000 hr CA couldn't see what was happening. When all 3 pilots are clueless, that's a system failure and not just pilot error. And let's not talk from a high horse in the US, we've had some of the worst air disasters for some bad reasons, including pilot error.

 

More evidence that experience and skill means nothing to modern aviation. The main thing that a fat logbook proves is your dedication to self destruction.

The right people will get hired over everyone else every time. Luck, circumstances and contacts are the only things that matter to ones career outcome.

Personally I can not invest myself into a situation where my effort and ability carries no weight. Might as well buy lottery tickets.

Skyhigh