Originally Posted by
tomuchwork
...I have seen very experienced pilots being "crappy", on the other hand I had some excellent guys with only 300 hours. It all depends on the individual. Flying is not something someone can "learn"(even some P2F schools are trying to sell exactly this) - no, you need to have it in you(have it "in your ass" if you want). That is why modern aviation is in my eyes very unsafe - everyone tries, many fail, still a lot who are not supposed to make it into airliner cockpits...
...Experience nowadays is replaced with VERY strong SOP's. The problem is - SOP cannot cover all possible problems one may experience in aviation.
The result of a high demand to fill the empty seats in the front combined with flight schools where maximum profit is more important than quality.
In my opinion, it’s not the worldwide pilot experience which is too low, it’s the worldwide quality which is too low. Cadets, FOs, captains, training quality, ...
The length of training and it’s quality is reduced to the bare minimum required to save costs.
I've done 2 full type ratings for the same type in the last 12 years and the second time, it consisted of about half of the sim sessions from the first type rating (different company). The other half of the sim sessions were replaced by a procedure trainer which looked like Microsoft Flight Simulator with touchscreens, focusing on procedures and automation. The first type rating had only 3 sessions in a procedure trainer and all the rest was in a FFS. That must have been too expensive for my current company, where I can see a strong dependence on procedures and automation to compensate for the lower level of experience and training.