Originally Posted by
Luray
Hello there,
Don't kick me hard for this thread.
On a long layover i looked through US pilot Job market and apparently they are ahead of Europe in terms of salary and working environment. For example sign-on bonus which i never heard of before. I was comparing this to European market overcrowded with young pilots agreeing to work for food to get jet hours. I am not talking about legacy carriers but i mean low-cost airlines that are damping the salary by taking advantage of your little experience and desire to fly big jets no matter what. After you build some hours you move to Asia or ME and circle starts all over again.
So my question is, what would happen if Europe did the same thing as US and apply 1500 h rule before allowing you to fly big jets? Would that bankrupt low-cost airlines and end slavery or would it cause Pan-European transport collapse? Definitely it will benefit safety and make experienced pilots more valuable.
I have a few thousand hours on turboprop in regional and was recently offered to fly E jet for 1/5 of my salary
I had to decline this generous offer but i am sure there are those who will accept it and in a few years move to Asia to make big money.
Yes, it would absolutely fix the Ts&Cs problem. Issue is it’s a totally arbitrary and unnecessary rule just for the sake of driving up Ts&Cs. That’s why the US unions like it, because it works for their members.
1500 hours of towing a banner behind a 172 does not make you a better airline pilot, it just doesn’t. A few hundred might add to your SA and decision making maybe, but 1500, really?... You may as well ask for a 4 year Russian Language degree; it won’t help, it’ll sure drive up Ts&Cs though.
Disclaimer - I started on a jet out of flight school in the EU. With hindsight, having been generally okay, I can categorically say that I did not need 1500 hours of towing ‘Happy 40th Barry’ banners behind a Cessna before starting as what I do on a day to day is worlds apart to what that sort of flying would demand.