ALPA backing "restricted" ATP? WHY??

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Would a pilot with 1,500 hours in an F-22 not qualify to be an RJ FO?

Should s/he be?

 

[beagle pilot]

Would a pilot with 1,500 hours in an F-22 not qualify to be an RJ FO?

About as much as a helicopter pilot with 1500 hours. There's a difference.

What is the wording of the NPRM on this issue?

 

[Lear70]

I would have no problem with them being there. I'm talking about the lack of BASIC hand-flying skills, radio skills, multi-tasking abilities, all the things that lead to the BASICS of being a good pilot that are lacking in the 250 hours wunderkids I had to fly with.

The single-seat military pilots bring their own challenges to a multi-crew civilian airliner, but at least they're OPEN to LEARNING how to function in that environment, and you don't have to teach them THOSE things PLUS basic flying skills.

That said, I don't see a lot of military pilots leaving the service to jump into an RJ these days, nor do I see a shortage of qualified pilots having a hard time getting hired. It's going to be at least 7-10 years before this change has any, real impact on how our Regionals staff. The only people that are going to suffer are the newly-minted Commercial pilots, and those people were NEVER in contention for the RJ jobs - not in this market.

 

[Lear70]

What is the wording of the NPRM on this issue?

It's not an NPRM. The NPRM from the FAA had a HUGE, glaring loophole that allowed "training in lieu of ATP minimums" without specifying the TYPE of training, reduction allowable in hours, etc, which would basically allow the FAA to put it wherever they want, subject to the needs of the airline industry.

We've seen how THAT works with rest and duty issues...

This is a LAW being enacted by the House and Senate, and being passed down to the FAA as an inflexible mandate. It would supersede any FAR (there's not enough time for the FAA to get the NPRM out, commented, and put into the Regs), and the only way the FAA could change it would be to make it more restrictive.

That's why I wrote my Congressman and Senators, trying to get HR3371 passed BEFORE the FAA version could go into effect...