Originally Posted by Wheel Landing

I'm writing the following to honestly try to help you understand the answer to your questions.

-First off, don't knock the many different flying jobs out there. While a crop dusting pilot may not have the highest level of proficiency flying an ILS, he will be a pilot that is very precise and comfortable with recovering from unusual attitudes as might be encountered in an upset in a larger airplane. He will also have alot of hands on flying that may put him ahead of his peers when accomplishing performance maneuvers such as a V1 Cut.

-The fact that you are questioning the validity of flying a 172 with respect to flying a larger airplane tells me that you honestly need more time flying a 172 to understand that even after 1500 hours, you won't have it all figured out. It is at about that point that you will probably realise that you have much more to learn. Then you will be ready to move on with open mind and ready to learn as much as you can as you progress on to a new aircraft and an operation that involves new challenges.

-While most Captains are certainly capable of controling the aircraft while operating as a single pilot, most if not all will tell you that operating a transport category aircraft especially in the part 121 world is a two pilot operation. Automation malfunctions. Pilots make mistakes that are almost always caught by the other pilot. While there is always mentoring going on, it is not supposed to be a single pilot operation with a brand new pilot grasping to the static wicks on the tail trying to keep up.

Again, this is meant to answer your questions above and is not meant to be condescending in any way. I wish you the best in your current flying and ask that you try to learn as much as you can early on while trying to have fun. You are now building the foundation of the pilot you will become for the rest of your career.

I wish you the best of luck in persuit of you career. Above all else, try to thoroughly enjoy your journey along the way. At the beginning, that is why we all started this career. The people who seem satisfied at the end are the ones who enjoyed the flying and experiences along the way.

Good Luck.

Originally Posted by DrangonStar45

After reading this article:
A concerned citizen would be furious that the pilots flying their families around have little to no experience. They would go to the internet and search "Regional Airlines in USA." To their surprise, the search yields such a high list of regional airlines. Then they will start checking their previous airline tickets and finds out they recently traveled on one regional, getting even more furious. They write to their Congressmen/women and Senators demanding regionals to show the pilot hours in their tickets. More concerned citizens join in and form a boycott to stop travelling in regional airlines, until more experienced crews are hired. The Regionals complain that experience crews are hard to find. By now, the concerned citizens population grows daily,and they investigate the qualified pilot shortage. Turns out, qualified pilots will not work for the crap wages in the regionals. A few months later, little revenue from the boycott and pressure from the Majors force the regionals to increase the pay substantially inorder to get high time crews and stop the boycott. A bill is also passed to set a minimum pay scale well over the poverty line.

Oh, if only we lived in a perfect world.......

Originally Posted by SkyHigh

My favorite part:

"The only place you can get experience is in the cockpit of an airplane experiencing all that goes on," Kuwitsky said. "Now you can get 3,000 or 4,000 hours of experience in a crop-duster — that has no translation to our operation."

My question is; how does 1500 hours of touch and goes from the right seat of a 172 going to help one to fly a transport category airplane either? Most of the things that a new pilot does to build time do not apply to airline flying at all.

The best way to build time to become an airline pilot is to serve as one. The flight deck is a system of mentor and apprentice. It only takes one guy to fly the plane. The other is there as back up and to learn. Not to be a second captain.

Skyhigh

Originally Posted by DrangonStar45

...months later, little revenue from the boycott and pressure from the Majors force the regionals to increase the pay substantially inorder to get high time crews and stop the boycott...