Hey, for years I've been saying we need an 'exchange program', where the International pilots who are always in need of a landing, fly one MD88 trip per month, and the MD88 guys, who are in need of food and sleep, fly an International trip, where they'd get plenty of both!

When I mention it to the Higher Ups in the training dept, they say the FAA would never allow it, because you'd have to maintain currency in say, a 777 or A330, and a MD88/737/A320.

I say, SO WHAT?!

Let the A330 guys go fly the A320, and let the 777 guys go fly the 737 or 757 on a 4 day trip. That should give them a few landings.

All of us who flew in the Guard/Reserves have been maintaining currency in at least two different aircraft types for years, no problems, in fact, I believe it makes us better at flying both.

And if I were KING....

All new hires would have to fly the MD88 for at least a year before moving on to something else.

That would fix a lot of 'automation dependency' right there!

 

I will never part with all those years of flying part 135 freight and passengers in which has made me a better pilot overall. A pilot has got to know his or her limitations (Situational Awareness) since flying with glass and automation is very different from yesteryear I can't do half the crap I use to do!

 

Some of us at a small, inconsequential little northwest airline have that in his year's recurrent--a lot of no flight director, no auto throttle, hand flying while dealing with emergencies. It was a great scenario.

 

As a former P135 freight dog, I agree, but, what if you had never learned all that raw data, hand flying stuff by doing it the hard way, in Part 135 in the first place? What if all you knew was glass and FMS?

Now we have pilots in Europe and Asia, with very little hand flying, being taught how to run an FMS, in all glass cockpit simulators, then they jump into a large jet..and then something goes wrong with the automation, or they put it into a bad place and don't realize it until it's too late. Is the Ab Initio and MLS coming to the US Carriers when the experience pool drys up?

He mentions the Air France, Asiana and Air Asia accidents.

 

As well you should, after all, you have to go into....

JUNO!

 

You make a good point, but there is a notable difference between the two professions.

With the exception of true, dedicated medical professionals who do it for the simple satisfaction of helping people (military doctors, Doctors Without Borders, etc.), most people would not endure the hardships of medical school, internships, board reviews, etc., if that profession were not, for the most part, a lucrative one, and the reward of a very comfortable life in later years was more than an even bet.

Not so much for pilots.

Even when times were awful the last dozen years, there was no shortage of eager beavers wanting to be airline pilots badly enough to pay the ridiculous tuition and fees at aviation universities, or risk their lives training at some fly-by-night "puppy factory", and then subject themselves to miserable pay and working conditions, even when the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow was far from guaranteed.

In other words, I've never heard of "Shiny Scalpel Syndrome".

 

I had close to a decade in 135 before going 121. 135 pilots often do so much more than just flying, without the aid of dispatchers. Flight planning, fuel loading, calling ATC towers on the phone for braking action reports, calling FBO's to coordinate your arrival so they can chase deer off the runway 5 min before you land at 2am, calling airport authority phone numbers to get special noise abatement procedures emailed to you, and landing at some challenging airports, all helped build plenty of experience IMO.

 

There was no FBO open at 6am, so we buzzed the runway to check for deer. Hit a bunch of seagulls one foggy morning. I won't do that again!

Oh, and don't forget about clicking the mic 5 times for the lights!

I got a speeding ticket once when the secretary had forgotten to buy Teddy Kennedy his macadamia nuts. I had to hurry up and get to the 7-11! Got bagged on the way back. I told the cop it was a nut run, for Teddy, he said he should charge me twice! $65 out of my paycheck...

And no, he didn't tip.

 

I don't agree that sims create experience. Except, maybe the first time you do something in the sim...and only maybe.

I tend to agree that improving ones skills is an individual choice and can be accelerated through aptitude. However, the pilot must make the choice him/herself.

 

Aren't simulated engine failures, smoke in the cockpit, hydraulic failures, etc. designed to do just that? Give you experience handling emergencies w/o the danger? You can't manufacture ALL experience, but you could do a much better job than what is being offered. In the current environment there isn't a requirement, so it doesn't get done.

Meanwhile Airbus and the new line of regional jets are out there being marketed as simpler and safer to fly, with enough automation to compensate for the lack of pilot skill and experience. The growth of world aviation demands this; the general public is ignorant of the situation, and the amount of automation is actually contributing to the difficulty in handling emergencies. In the case of an A380 with a blown engine, they had 15 checklists to cover! It was information overload and in the end, the pilots fell back on their experience to determine the proper approach speeds. see link below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s29OI5VeW30