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It would absolutely decimate the ranks. Heck you probably wouldn’t even have to instruct a single hour in this environment. Originally Posted by AirBear
When many EAS routes stop getting serviced there's going to be a lot of unhappy politicians. For those familiar with flight training, wouldn't cutting the 1500 hours to a lower number decimate the CFI ranks? Just robbing Peter to pay Paul? Age 65 wouldn't do much as already posted above, but the 1000 hour rule would be the most effective I'd guess. I'd also guess the FAA will push back hard on that thou.
The 1,500 hour rule might be kind of stupid, but it’s not the problem. It’s actually a good idea to force CFI’s to fly 1,500 hours from a stability standpoint. Just to dumb it down, a 141 school graduate requires a 1,000 hours before leaving for a regional. That CFI usually receives all his/her Ratings with around 200 total hours, then has to instruct for another 800 to get their 1,000 hours. That’s around 4 students they can produce to replace their position. That’s good, it produces more future aviators.
Maybe Kirby has changed his viewpoint on where the shortage is an issue, but not too recently he blamed it on student training costs and the 1,500 hour rule. That’s not where the major issue lies. It’s regional Captains, that’s where the ranks are on the verge of decimating the future inflow of well trained pilots into the industry. EAS routes will shrink dramatically (and already are) due to lack of Regional Captains to fly those routes, but that’s just the Preliminary or “Undercard” to the Main Event.