Food for thought

[trainerjet]

Not only is Avbug the expert on all subjects known to aviation, he is also an expert on the best way for me to spend my time. Thanks...I'll take it under advisement.


SpeedTree, et.al.....my point being that the views of the "publisher" are a bit skewed for someone that proposes advice on how to further your aviation career....presumably as a pilot. Maybe if you send him some money to help further his "business", he will help you further yours??????

OK....management bashing over. My opinion on the subject of this thread...like most others that have voiced theirs, I believe it is a bad idea and would never work. It's a supply and demand issue, not a "qualification" issue. Arbitrarily raising the minimum standards for certification would serve only to raise the minimums for certification.

 

[bobbysamd]

Certification demand and supply

American flight schools could lose business if the hours mins were upped, and here's why. American pilot students could go abroad to earn their certificates! Before you discount this notion, think about it. Commercial certification requirements in most countries are somewhere at 250 hours. Then, I read somewhere that because of post-911 immigration crackdowns, many European would-be students are turning to Australia as a source of flight training. So, you could see Americans who would normally consider training here go abroad and spend their U.S. dollars for flight training. Then, they would come back and convert their foreign licenses to U.S. certificates merely by taking the writtens and practicals.

I'm sure the Florida congressional delegation would be thrilled to see that happen.

Realistically, I believe that ICAO, of which the U.S. is a member and signatory, sets forth the hour and training requirements for certification.

Hey, uwochris, did I read correctly on the Transport Canada site that you need only 150 hours for a CPL? I read that on what appeared to be the Canadian equivalent of the PTS. If so, I find that hard to believe.

 

[uwochris]

Hey Bobby,

The 150 hours you saw on TC is NOT a mistake; however, there is a catch.

The catch is that you have to be registered in part of Canada' new "Integrated Commercial Pilot License" program (ICPL). Only a handful schools in all of Canada offer it. This new program set out by TC in Canada was designed to make flight training a lot more structured. As an ICPL student, you must solo within a certain amount of time, you must have your PPL in a certain amount of time, you must must not take breaks in between your training, etc etc. Also, in my program (I'm not sure if this is part of my school or ICPL) but we have weekly quizes at groundschool and we are not allowed to miss more than X amount of classes (not sure of the number). Also, the minimum groundschool time was changed... as part of the ICPL, going from PPL, CPL, MIFR... we get over 430 hours of required groundschool training. This is a big jump from the prior number.

Also, the ICPL was designed to be more easily converted to FAA or JAA licensing.

I'm sorry I don't more about the ICPL program and it's regulations, but it has received a lot of positive feedback from Canadian companies and foreign ones as well.

Here is a link from TC's website on a Q and A about the ICPL:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/civilaviation/general/flttrain/Integrated/Q&A.htm

 

[bobbysamd]

Canadian CPL requirements v. U.S. Commercial requirements

Thanks, Chris, very interesting. I copied the following from the site to which Chris referred:

4. Why do we need two pathways to the commercial licence?


Most of the world uses two pathways. ICAO specifies “approved” and “unapproved” courses. Until the eighties, Canada always had approved and unapproved courses. As it is less structured, the regular course will continue to call for more overall flight experience, e.g. 200 hours vs 150 hours for CPL(A) course.

(emphasis added)

Still, it's fewer hours than a Part 61 Commercial certificate. Just the same, I would doubt that the FAA would ever impose higher mins than 250 hours, as Avbug opined above.

Some schools have established minimum grades for moving on to the next step. E.g., MAPD requires a B average in all flight courses for students to get the coveted "interview."

 

[publisher]

Thanks

Thanks for the defense.

There are some that think that if you are so egregious as to post an opinion in disagreement with the whine, you are anti pilot and pro management.

Will Rogers said that if you want to talk to someone, first walk around behind them and look at things from their point of view.

The trouble here is that there is a good deal of myopia. By the way, to clear up something, my magazine is about aviation careers. That includes management, flight attendants, maintenance, dispatch, customer service , FBO's, and a bunch of others besides pilots.

The point was and is that these are businesses.
To think that an airline or any other kind of business and employee groups can live in some vacuum and not be subjected to the vulnerabilities of competition is unrealistic. Life is competition and that is what keeps the overall system in line.