Can we stop?
 

Complaining and accept the low time pilot thing? This seems like it is a post every other day. Please move on. It is what it is. It has happened before, it is happening right now, and IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN!

Amen to that!!!

Yes, but only because you're a Lewis grad;)

What does that even mean.

I wouldn't mind it so much if seemingly everyone of the 300 hour wonders I've talked to didn't talk down to me because I spent 2 years instructing living off ridiculously low wages "blowing" my money on multi time and they went right into the right seat of a jet. Not saying all of them are this way, but most of them are.

TJS30
In aviation things change fast as you know. Talked to a ret. NWA capt who was hired at age 20, with about 250 hrs as a SO on 727. By the time he was 24 he was a capt on 727. In my opinion i am glad i don’t have to instruct for two year, i feel bad for those who had to. You do learn a lot, but seniority as we all know rules. Those 300hr wonder kids need to keep there mouth shut and try to watch and learn from the older guys

Well..you just started a brand new one to fight on!:D

All I was getting at is this: I know 777 pilots and 250 hour wonder pilots. However, at the end of the day when all is said and done, we are all on the same team. Some of us had to flight instruct for years, others didn't, as the times they are a changin'. We should all be supportive of eachother because our goals are all the same in the end! That is all.

Anybody who gets hired with low time has no business talking down to somebody with more experience - for that matter nobody has any business belittling anybody regardless of background, rank etc.

As for the whole low time argument, I've seen low timers who do an excellent job and I've seen low timers who do not. This is also true with higher timers.

If somebody is hired with low time, successfully completes training and most importantly has a good and safe attitude, I see nothing wrong with it. It is true that a lower time pilot does not have the same level of overall experience that somebody who has flown 1000+ hours in different weather and terrain does. However, after the first few months of flying these low timers will have gained significant experience - in a turbine 121 environment. True, they do not have the PIC experience of being a CFI however with a good learning attitude and good mentoring on the part of the captains they fly with, I believe that the CFI experience is not indispensable. When I say mentoring by the part of the captain, I do not mean basic instruction but more the captain sharing with the FO his/her decision making process, experience and sometimes asking the FO what he/she would do in this or that situation. A good FO, especially a low time FO should be constantly thinking about what he/she would do in a particular scenario.

Times have changed in the US and low time FOs are a reality. The rest of the world (especially Europe) has been putting low time pilots in the right seat for decades and it has worked safely (and no, they are not just gear monkeys). The difference between Europe and the US is the mentoring philosophy on the part of the Captains, the training and also the caliber of the raw product. I do believe that low time pilots should be held to a higher standard when hired i.e. have a certain degree of maturity, education and life experience and have gone through a structured flight training program. I do not believe that low time (or any other 121 pilots) should be hired as young kids straight out of high school with no college degree or equivalent life experience.

In my opinion, provided there is professionalism and a good attitude present in both seats of the cockpit, the well qualified and trained low time FO is perfectly safe.

Yes.. Please stop reminding us of how under experienced we are and how dangerous we could be to the industry. Let's just all move on so that airline management can put us 300 hr pilots in those seats for poverty wages, instead of raising the wages to attract more experienced (read.. safer...) pilots... :D :D ;)