I'd like to run this idea up the flagpole:
Overhaul the US pilot licensing standards. Increase the difficulty of obtaining all classes of license to mirror or exceed the standards set by the EU countries for licensure.
Why?
Two equally important reasons. First, reduce the number of pilots in the labor pool thus making pilots a scarcer commodity. This will translate into higher salaries, better working conditions, and realistic career opportunities over time - for those who can cut the mustard.
And, first again, rigor is good. A higher bar will weed out those who can't demonstrate an academic or performance aptitude and will eliminate those who cannot hack the workload or want only to put forth enough effort to be an airborne taxi driver (look, cells in a petri dish can control an airplane in flight http://www.napa.ufl.edu/2004news/braindish.htm [what does this do to the perception of the profession?]. I'd rather know the guy sitting next to me has demonstrated the ability to function at a high level and whose capacities stretch beyond bagging groceries).
Oh, one more thing - any change to the licensing standards that would potentially reduce the size of the labor pool would necessarily require governmental restrictions on the hire of foreign citizens as pilots. I would propose that no foreign citizen be allowed to work as a commercial pilot in the United States unless he has been naturalized and has lived in the US for an uninterrupted period of 15 years.
I'll leave it at this for now to see the response.
Overhaul the US pilot licensing standards. Increase the difficulty of obtaining all classes of license to mirror or exceed the standards set by the EU countries for licensure.
Why?
Two equally important reasons. First, reduce the number of pilots in the labor pool thus making pilots a scarcer commodity. This will translate into higher salaries, better working conditions, and realistic career opportunities over time - for those who can cut the mustard.
And, first again, rigor is good. A higher bar will weed out those who can't demonstrate an academic or performance aptitude and will eliminate those who cannot hack the workload or want only to put forth enough effort to be an airborne taxi driver (look, cells in a petri dish can control an airplane in flight http://www.napa.ufl.edu/2004news/braindish.htm [what does this do to the perception of the profession?]. I'd rather know the guy sitting next to me has demonstrated the ability to function at a high level and whose capacities stretch beyond bagging groceries).
Oh, one more thing - any change to the licensing standards that would potentially reduce the size of the labor pool would necessarily require governmental restrictions on the hire of foreign citizens as pilots. I would propose that no foreign citizen be allowed to work as a commercial pilot in the United States unless he has been naturalized and has lived in the US for an uninterrupted period of 15 years.
I'll leave it at this for now to see the response.