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Sullenberger: 'We Need Experienced Pilots'
Captain Chelsey "Sully" Sullenberger has gone on the record as saying that new rules requiring pilots to have 1,500 hours in their logbooks before becoming an airline pilot are on the mark, and should not be changed because of a supposed looming pilot shortage. (www.aero-news.net) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
I think his opinions are influenced by his experiences at USAir. While hours give a pilot experience in the environment, we all know they are no indication of pilot skill or proficiency. Ask anyone who's been involved in the training and checking of line pilots at an airline. Some guys are aces, some barely get by even with 10,000 hours of experience. It's all about forcing the airlines to pay more to obtain "qualified" applicants and pushing the wage union agenda. The airline world has had low time pilots in the cockpit since the DC-3 days. FO's were apprentice pilots under the training and supervison of the autocratic Captain until they too made Captain and then trained their apprentices. For years, the regionals used to promote FO's to Captain in less than a year in aircraft like ATR-42's, Shorts 360's and Dash 8's with maybe 2000 total time. Military pilots are turned loose in fighters with 300 hours and even members of the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels often have less than 1500 hours. Low time is nothing new. The pilots who are trained well and who are committed to their professional development have good careers regardless of how much flight time they had when they got hired. In the case of Sully's ditching, I don't want to take anything away from the crew but I don't think a diffent FO would have changed to outcome very much. In the short time they had to deal with the engine failure, the outcome was as much about luck as it was skill. Make it a different airport environment, a dark night or low IFR and this could have had a much different result. I personally don't like the crew being made out as heroes and this "miracle on the Hudson" b.s. They did what they were trained to do and by the circumstances had a good result. Sully is a good line pilot and a professional aviator but his opinion should carry no more weight than the thousands of other professional pilots out there flying every day. Bottom line, this is a bad law forced on the FAA by a Conrgresa influenced by a very vocal group of family memmbers of victims of the Colgan accident. They are well meaning but don't have a clue what they are doing. The 1500 hour rule will change nothing as far as safety goes and just live on to be an ill conceived, useless and meaningless rule.
Both pilots at Colgan had 1500 hours when they buried a plane. Both pilots of the AA plane that crashed in LIT had ATP's. It's not about hours or having an ATP. It's about training!
Anybody can screw up at any given time. I lost several good friend in the LIT crash. seem sto me that one of the biggest things there was that they missed spoiler deployment on a we trunway and overshot. As I said, anybody can screw up and I think they found that fatigue had something to do with it too. Mad dogs land a little hot anyway.
In fairness Sullenberger did mention that the airlines should offer wages and working conditions that will attract qualified pilots.
After watching my stepson battle with the costs involved to gain the hours and training need to make the grade it appears from a layman's perspective that the primary issue for new pilots is that there isn't a reasonable return on their investment based on new pilot's wages vs. college and or training costs. When a physician racks up $250K or more in student loans they know that they will be able to pay those dollars back in a reasonable time and have an acceptable living standard. For a new pilot who is faced with monstrous student debt and the reality of living in a shared apartment with 8 of your closest friends just to have your dream job, the dream evaporates pretty quickly. Apprenticeships used to be a relationship whereby the apprentice exchanged acceptance of low wages and sweat equity for training and experience from the master. In the airline industry it appears that the airlines want to apprentice to pay for most of their own training and yet still have to accept pitiful wages in exchange for additional experience. It's a business equation that really doesn't make much sense to me.
After watching my stepson battle with the costs involved to gain the hours and training need to make the grade it appears from a layman's perspective that the primary issue for new pilots is that there isn't a reasonable return on their investment based on new pilot's wages vs. college and or training costs. When a physician racks up $250K or more in student loans they know that they will be able to pay those dollars back in a reasonable time and have an acceptable living standard. For a new pilot who is faced with monstrous student debt and the reality of living in a shared apartment with 8 of your closest friends just to have your dream job, the dream evaporates pretty quickly. Apprenticeships used to be a relationship whereby the apprentice exchanged acceptance of low wages and sweat equity for training and experience from the master. In the airline industry it appears that the airlines want to apprentice to pay for most of their own training and yet still have to accept pitiful wages in exchange for additional experience. It's a business equation that really doesn't make much sense to me.
I've lost respect for this man...The 1500 hour rule is ruining me. As a college student at UND, it is already difficult paying for my education let alone getting my very expensive ratings needed to become an airline pilot. The 1500 rule is going to ruin aviation. Less and less people will find aviation appealing and we are going to find it difficult finding motivated pilots who want to work in a hostile industry for low pay and a 1500 hour requirement! "EXPERIENCED" pilots aren't made by the quantity of the hours but the QUALITY of the hours...
Like cheefpilot said "you are young and you can still do something else"...I started out when I was around 20 and even then I was struggling with the cost because I couldn't find someone to loan me the money to finish up so I was basically paying out of pocket...Since then I've gotten married and we have two wonderful children...The sad part is I currently make more than most regional pilots fueling trucks and doing trailer repairs and really can't justify spending upwards of 35K-50K for a job that is not going offer me a descent return right off the bat. I have a friend who just finished with ATP, we are both 29, the difference is he is trying to gain hours while I am working for a company that is pretty stable and gives us yearly cost of living raises and I am not going to be screwed if they raise the hours to 1500...No one here is saying that you shouldn't follow your dream but it is important to know the facts...They say there is a shortage coming but look at the current numbers of instructors and furloughed/ pilots flying in other countries that will be coming back home...Also look at the pilots in the military that will potentially be coming out over the next few years. In short the market in my opinion is already flooded....I wish you all the luck in the world and I pray that you accomplish your goal but just remember you can always start towards another profession and fly for fun.
If you already understand that this is a "hostile industry with low pay" then why not quit and do something else now while you are still young and can easily do something different so you don't suffer from making such a poor career choice?