EuroWheenie
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2005
- Posts
- 2,487
Appreciate there's a vast difference between the hours expected from a candidate applying for a US major vs. that of a European ditto. I also appreciate that having had 1000 hours fooling around in bugsmashers teaching doctors not to kill themselves, getting lots of stick time in the process, has a certain value when it comes to basic feel of aircraft handling.
There are, however, many ways to skin a cat, and the highly specialised integrated or modular approach to creating a ATPL orientated pilot has its values too.
Our lot has hired quite a few 200ish hour FO's directly on the B727 and B757, but we haven't done it for the A300B4. I got in with 377 hours on the B727, with the first batch of still-wet-behind-the-ears-need-a-note-from-momma-to-fly-nights kids, and that aircraft turned out to be quite a handful for all of us. The airline flies with "real" FEs, so we went directly to the RH seat. It was a very steep learning curve, but we got through and the experience served to improve the curriculum.
We're but a small yellow painted boxhauler, but all the majors from BA over AF to LH etc hires kids at the age of 20 and with 200 hours to be FOs their short-haul fleet. Of all the airlines, LH is probably the only one who've gone and done things the proper way, by having its own flight school and hiring kids straight out of college. It's said that getting in on the LH programme is more difficult than getting into the top German universities. But all of the reputable airlines have a very tough selection process, so the candidates they let in will have the skills and aptitude required to drive big jets.
The worst example are the Frozen ATPL factories, who churn out 200 hour cadets, the majority of which has no prior affiliation with any airline. The more talented of that group manages to land a job, but the vast majority cannot find employment and then buys a 30K Euro type rating followed by another purchase of 100, 200 or 300 hours on the line with an airline. If they manage not to bent anything or kill anyone, they've now got around 500 hours and thus more marketable.
It's one of the worst scams in aviation; a program in which it's nothing but your parents cash separating you from an airline job, not your abilities as a pilot. And let's face it, once you've sat 500 hours behind the FMC of a modern Boeing or Airbus you can pretty much fool anyone into thinking you know what your doing, and rely on the good hearted nature of your TRI/TREs to let you slip by in the sim and on LOFT.
One might expect only 3rd tier airlines to employ a program whereby a part of your FOs are actually paying to be sat there, but that's not the case. It's a practice that's been embraced by the LCCs with joy, so next time you board an Easyjet or Ryanair flight keep that in mind.
"They could teach monkeys to fly better than that ..."
There are, however, many ways to skin a cat, and the highly specialised integrated or modular approach to creating a ATPL orientated pilot has its values too.
Our lot has hired quite a few 200ish hour FO's directly on the B727 and B757, but we haven't done it for the A300B4. I got in with 377 hours on the B727, with the first batch of still-wet-behind-the-ears-need-a-note-from-momma-to-fly-nights kids, and that aircraft turned out to be quite a handful for all of us. The airline flies with "real" FEs, so we went directly to the RH seat. It was a very steep learning curve, but we got through and the experience served to improve the curriculum.
We're but a small yellow painted boxhauler, but all the majors from BA over AF to LH etc hires kids at the age of 20 and with 200 hours to be FOs their short-haul fleet. Of all the airlines, LH is probably the only one who've gone and done things the proper way, by having its own flight school and hiring kids straight out of college. It's said that getting in on the LH programme is more difficult than getting into the top German universities. But all of the reputable airlines have a very tough selection process, so the candidates they let in will have the skills and aptitude required to drive big jets.
The worst example are the Frozen ATPL factories, who churn out 200 hour cadets, the majority of which has no prior affiliation with any airline. The more talented of that group manages to land a job, but the vast majority cannot find employment and then buys a 30K Euro type rating followed by another purchase of 100, 200 or 300 hours on the line with an airline. If they manage not to bent anything or kill anyone, they've now got around 500 hours and thus more marketable.
It's one of the worst scams in aviation; a program in which it's nothing but your parents cash separating you from an airline job, not your abilities as a pilot. And let's face it, once you've sat 500 hours behind the FMC of a modern Boeing or Airbus you can pretty much fool anyone into thinking you know what your doing, and rely on the good hearted nature of your TRI/TREs to let you slip by in the sim and on LOFT.
One might expect only 3rd tier airlines to employ a program whereby a part of your FOs are actually paying to be sat there, but that's not the case. It's a practice that's been embraced by the LCCs with joy, so next time you board an Easyjet or Ryanair flight keep that in mind.
"They could teach monkeys to fly better than that ..."
