While I can't disagree that the majority of regional pilots are less experienced than major airline pilots in terms of hours and types of equipment flown, I think one major point is constantly overlooked:
If we are such bad pilots, why do you hire us?
Every major airline has plenty of former regional pilots. Sure, Delta and American may prefer ex-military, but AA has not even hired in nearly a decade. The military has been slowly downsized. The major carriers will never be able to fill 75% of their vacant seats with former military pilots again. Perhaps the initial hiring wave will find a bunch of military guys sitting at the regionals who will get the tap on the shoulder first, but that supply will be exhausted quickly.
As for talent, that generally comes from experience. So yes, we may be less talented in that sense. but again, many of us will be major pilots one day. Will we still be untalented then? Or will the flashy new brass on our hats suddenly enhance our abilites? I know that 20-40 hours of sim training sure won't cure us of our inability.
I am sick of this PR campaign being waged by the major airlines to bash us regional pilots. If Sully and Company were so darn experienced, why the heck did they not notice that whole flock of geese? EXPEREINCE tells me that having one pilot's eyes outside would have prevented that whole mess. A flock of geese is not hard to spot, even with a nose high attitude. Sure, impact may be inevitable, but there will be plenty of time to prevent hitting that many of them with critical components of the aircraft. And what about the Continental captain who took that 737 off the runway in Denver with the tiller? Or the Fedex plane in NRT that was improperly landed? Heck, Fedex thrives on hiring military pilots! Sure did them a lot of good! And then we have Southwest off the runway in Burbank, the midway accident as well. USAirhad 5 (I beleive) accidents through the 80's and 90's.
Yes, regional pilots have crashed too. The Pinnacle flight to 410 was just unbelievable, and this Colgan flight appears to be a poor display of airmanship, too. The point is, no matter what you fly or how many hours you have flown it, we are all susceptible to error. No one carrier, major or regional, has a significantly worse safety record than the rest. Mainline pilots are deliberately trying to undermine regional pilots strictly for personal gain. They want their "flying" back. They want the public to put pressure on the major airlines' managers and get the flying away from "small planes with inexperienced pilots".
If the mainline pilots truly gave a flying fudge about regional safety and experience, they would use their lobby influence to try to set a minimum experience level for employment at a 121 carrier. PIC and SIC would both have flight time requirements. But there is no push for reform, just slander and mudslinging. So much for professionalism. Make no mistake, main line pilots are looking to take away regional pilot jobs. They feel this is an effective way to get rid of regional carriers. Is it reprisal for us flying their flights for less pay, or is it another age 65 type tactic of mainline pilots trying to take what they WANT at all costs?
