WHY WHY WHY..why R we hiring 210 hr pilots?

[RJP]

There are pilots with 400 hours that can handle flying a jet. Most pilots that went throught military training should be able to handle it. I'm sure there are quite a few civilian trained pilots that would be able to handle it too.

Sure, there are some civilian-trained pilots who could handle a jet.....if they got their PPL and went to millitary pilot training!

 

[Goose Egg]

AMRAAM -- Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile

Yeah, but what's a "lauch?"

 

[pilotyip]

There is a pilot shortage coming, so airlines are redefining competitive minimums. This leads up to the hiring boom of June 2007

 

[KeroseneSnorter]

dude...hate to burst your bubble but they have all done it...yup you heard it...might not be public but most, if not all regionals have. ASA, Xpressjet, Eagle, Comair, ACA(used to), and all the pay for training carriers...you guys might not believe me, but they have all done it. I know for a fact, there are published mins...and then there are the other mins...in fact...believe it or not...at an undisclosed regional, the guys that busted training where never the low timers...the difference was they had to come from a structured program...like riddle, purdue, flight safety, etc...this is not a new concept guys...they have been at it for years now.

not to add fuel to the fire...but say you take the top 5% of purdue and riddle grads...with their 200 hours and put them in a jet...isn't that the same as a company like Microsoft taking the top 5% of MIT grads and putting them in charge? Or the Air Force commisioning the top students from the Air Force Academy and giving them flight slots? Guys flight time is important...but attitude and judgement is what kills you in an airplane...especially when its structured training. I am in the left seat of a CRJ...and the guys that scare me are not the 200, 300, 500, 900 hour guys...the ones that scare me are the cocky bastards that think they are chuck yeager with 100 hours or 10000 hours

The 800 to 1000 hour F/O's that I had WERE from Purdue and Riddle.....The early first wave of this trend. They could barely handle a 31000 pound Turboprop on a good day. They were severly lacking in any kind of real world judgment and IFR experience. Common errors on a good weather day included procedure errors in the IFR system, forgetting or missetting altimeters, altitude busts (at least tried to), couldn't interpret a radar picture, would call for flaps and gear way above placard speeds, couldn't figure out how to enter holds on the fly, would attempt to intercept a false localizer needle, missed or misinterpreted radio calls on a regular basis, misread performance charts and W/B figures and come up with bad numbers (off enough to kill you), would call completed checklists while the packs remained off and the A/C unpressurized. Etc.

The list goes on, everybody makes mistakes, but unless things have changed drastically in the last few years the Captain is having to do the job of both pilots, I know we were when we had our group of the "Program" newhires.

Safety suffered because of it.

 

[L.Skywalker]

Otto, I readily admit that interviews are not my strong point, other than that no faults as to record or otherwise. Thanks for the words and I'll get to airlineapps.com for Mesa right away.

Thanks Again!

 

[BoilerUP]

Kerosene,

I would like to think many pilots coming out of those programs you mentioned today have learned from the problems of those more arrogant that have come before them. You've been there and done that in the past, and although the programs you mentioned are excellent, there are some people coming out of my program that I personally don't think have the skills, knowledge or experience to do well, while others I would be completely comfortable with. Admittedly, they have a steeper learning curve than those with 135 experience, but a positive attitude and eager willingness to learn go a long way in mitigating that problem. What you describe is a complete and total lack of situation awareness, and is inexcusable in a 121 environment.

 

[KeroseneSnorter]

Kerosene,

I would like to think many pilots coming out of those programs you mentioned today have learned from the problems of those more arrogant that have come before them. You've been there and done that in the past, and although the programs you mentioned are excellent, there are some people coming out of my program that I personally don't think have the skills, knowledge or experience to do well, while others I would be completely comfortable with. Admittedly, they have a steeper learning curve than those with 135 experience, but a positive attitude and eager willingness to learn go a long way in mitigating that problem. What you describe is a complete and total lack of situation awareness, and is inexcusable in a 121 environment.

I hope that the problems have been corrected. We had 1 of that group that was excellent. However, he was the only one of the group that had any real experience, he had flown a Baron in corporate work on the weekends while flight instructing at his university during the week. There is no substitute for real world flying. The rest had at most 100 to 200 hours of multi time, all as an MEI. That first winter in the north east with these folks was very interesting to say the least. Let me tell you there is nothing that will get your attention more than a 200 1/2 approach in blowing snow being flown by a guy that still thought a Seminole was fast!

 

[Big Dog]

Think of it in terms of legalities...

At the bare minimum, in the unfortunate situatation that the captain becomes unable to perform their duties, the FO should be able to LEGALLY PIC the A/C, minimum ATP & Type Rating in Part 121.

 

[CA1900]

This will continue as long as RJ's aren't falling out of the sky.

If you'll recall last October, a CRJ did exactly that. The FO had 761 hours of total time, 222 of them in the CRJ. By my math, that means he was hired with 539 hours, and that was after his 250-hour stint at Gulfstream.

Anyone can fly them.

Well, I hate to speak ill of the dead, but clearly not.

 

[FN FAL]

So a guy with 800 hours in a 172 is more qualified than the guy with 200 hours in the same type of airplane?

Define more qualified? The regs set the minimum qualifications for who can hold the right seat, there is no MORE QUALIFIED definition by the FAA.