Originally Posted by
BaronVonBarnstormer
Wow what a childish thing to say. If that's true then easyJet, Flybe, BA, Virgin and every other Arline that has ever run an integrated scheme must have gone out of their way to find people who really shouldn't be entrusted to fly a $72m jet carrying 180 people. Their selection criteria must weed out those who are suited to this level of responsibility, and who could not possibly pass their EASA's or CPL/ME/IR for that matter.
There is a rotten attitude on this part of pprune towards the intergrated students that is incredibly myopic. It only serves to discredit every junior pilot stepping out of flight school by portraying them as over-privileged and naive. The truth of the matter is that the vast majority have worked hard to get in, work damed hard while at school and aim to come out as well-rounded and as well prepared for their future career as possible. Oh and believe me, they know full well the implications of having to barrow/ save the amount of money an integrated course costs.
Saying that Modular people are any better or any worse than Intergrated is as bigoted as saying the Captain you fly with who went to a Private school is more deserving of their position than the Captain who went to a Comprehensive. No, each is equally deserving, no matter what route they took to get there. The same applies to flight training.
Very well said!
Those that have made derogatory comments about integrated graduates being naive and wet behind the ears seem to have forgotten that the even best captain in any airline’s fleet was once an inexperienced and raw green recruit. We all have to start somewhere. Whatever your background, the only way to gain experience is to do the job.
Also, every single pilot is subject to regularl line checks and SIM assessments. It doesn’t matter where or with whom you trained, it is a requirement that you meet the standard. If there was a weakness in the integrated schools, you’d soon see a disproportionate trend in their graduates failing to make the grade and no doubt, questions would be asked.
In the “good old days” it seems many pilots were ex armed forces personnel so their initial training was just happened to be funded indirectly by the tax payer. I don’t remember anyone grumbling that those commercial pilots had gained their pretty decent salaries through the public purse.