selcal

Give the guy a break. He just lost his wife. Of course he is going to say that she was head and shoulders above everyone else. It is obvious they BOTH screwed up badly and neither were head and shoulders above anyone else.

OldSF3Dude

I agree with having a ATP being the minimum requirement to fly for the airlines. It makes sense for safety. I also think it would drive up first officer pay. It's supply and demand. How many guys with ATPs are available for the airlines to hire vs guys with 250 hours? Once the airlines get hiring again I think they would have to raise pay to compete for new hires with ATPs.

When I was a new hire in 1998 the average new hire had 1000-2000 hours and had lots of previous experience flight instructing, flying charter, flying checks, etc. When I was a new hire again in 2008 the average new hire had 300 hours and had just got out of flight school and (maybe) had done a very short stint as an instructor at his school. There were a few outliers (me, a couple military guys, a charter guy), but the vast majority recently seem to be in the 250-500 hour niehborhood.

Of course, I'm sure I'm biased in my opinion.

rickB

What is with you people just ripping on the dumbest things. That isn't even the reason the plane went down. Yes, they messed up, however I feel that just because you have a load of flight time isn't always going to make you the best and the brightest. It all depends on the individual.

JetJock16

Quote: "When I was hired at my airline 23 years ago, I had nearly the flying time of both the captain and the first officer of the Buffalo flight combined. That was the norm then. Because of dramatic reductions in compensation over the past 10 years, airline careers are no longer attractive to the best and the brightest."

I agree with almost everything he said but the above statement isn’t comparing apples to apples. 99.9% of the pilot’s hired both during his time 23 years ago and even today (or 2 years ago) at mainline have more flying time than both Colgan pilots when hired. Remember that he’s comparing the hiring practices of US Air to regional airlines. Look at the hiring practices of regional 23 years ago and you’ll see flight times comparable to the FO’s.

I completely agree that an ATP should be a min requirement to obtain an airline pilot job.

I’m also sick of being calling "not the best and brightest" or “untalented” or “not the cream of the crop.” I have 2 degrees, graduated college magna cum laude while playing division I college tennis, I have a very successful business history, this is a second career for me, I started flying long before I turned 10 and I grew up in aviation with both my father and uncle being former MIL and Mainline pilots plus I have NEVER failed a check ride or stage check. I think I and many other “regional” pilots deserve more.

Airbum

I think that FO Skiles letter was great. He hit on some points that needed to be said.

NoBeta

No offense but do you have any clue what it costs to rent a single or multi nowadays??? Try 250 to 350 per hour for a multi with an instructor.

Avroman

While I too agree everyone once online at any airline should have the ATP with PIC type, I must wonder about his comment of everyone at USair having one.... Isn't almost everyone at USair (at least the "easties" where these guys flew) either a current or former USair captain thanks to the way that company has gone in the past 10 years or so? I mean if he's been there for 20+ years and is still a A320 FO then why hasn't he upgraded to captain? This assuming he wasn't at one point and is a downgrade there.

Next point, isn't about 99.5% of all major airline pilots ATP's? And the few that aren't came from the military where they have to perform a paperwork exercise to actually get their earned type ratings and ATP in the civilian world?

Tinpusher007

The guy who said this:

"My FAA-issued pilot's license does not say "regional flying only." It has my name with a picture of Wilbur and Orville Wright on the back. My point is that you can trust the U.S. airline system. Don't think lowest bidder. Think leanest operator with the sharpest management team.

So go online, search for that lowest fare and keep flying. It's a wonderful and safe world out there."

definitely loses me in his last few sentences. Don't get me wrong...Im not going to drive my aircraft into the ground just because Im paid poorly. But give me a break with the "leanest operator with sharpest management" BS.

Sniper

I've never understood how an 'airline pilot' as recognized by industry never had to be an 'Airline Transport Pilot' as recognized by the FAA.

The FAR's are written in blood. The only question is, has enough blood be spilled yet to compel the FAA to act?

Well said, CA Skiles!

JetJock16

Agree........................

CPL: CFI, CFII, MEI, Aerial Photography, Sight Seeing, Traffic Watch, Agriculture (crop duster), Pipeline, etc.......

ATP: Airline Transport Pilot

This should be the minimum requirement...................period.