Originally Posted by
Bueno Hombre
Airline Captains are expected to be intelligent
This one very young or overawed by instructions from the dreaded Chief Pilot Office, We just don't know at this time.
We do know some things - at the large airlines in the U.S. the Captains flying the large twins (330/350/777/787) aren't very young or new to the game. My airline was 3 fleets and the youngest in each fleet is 54, 56, and 56. If you take away the bottom 5% the lowest age drops to 58, 58, and 59. The guy with the fewest years at the airline was hired in 1989. The years and ages might be slightly different at each airline but the overall numbers are similar.
With the large number of retirements in 7-10 years those numbers will drop. Perhaps as low as 12-15 yrs with the company, 7-10 yrs as Captain on n/b aircraft, and only 20-25 yrs experience as a professional pilot. With few getting hired younger than 30 that means the 'new' and youngest LWB CA's we'll see on this side of the pond at the U.S. majors will still by at least 35, and perhaps at least 40, years old. With the average new hire being in their mid 30's a more common age would probably be 45-50.
No MPL or cadet programs, strict seniority lists, pay differential and trip quality difference on LWB vs domestic flying, minimum experience requirements o get hired, results in different outcomes on this side of the pond.
A greater possibility is that no one has more than a year's experience on the aircraft. I do not recall seeing that once in the 3+ years on the more senior aircraft with 3 man crews. Having one pilot with less than a year's experience in type isn't that uncommon. Having two with less than one years experience is very uncommon (twice in 3+ years?).
Few in the U.S. are overawed by the instructions from the CP. Given the short time frame of this event it would be a low probability that a CP even contacted the flight. In 30 yrs at my current job I've never heard of a CP contacting a flight without the Captain requesting the contact. Sometimes dispatch will ask questions, hints, or suggestions as they should but the 'top down' pressure isn't a high threat. That's before the union gets involved.