Originally Posted by
Gnadenburg
I recall as a domestic Australian airline pilot, CASA required a circling approach off an NPA as part of your 90 day sim proficiency. It was singe engine and 500 feet. Nobody in their right mind would circle in those circumstances, it was a skill-set that maintained the high levels of airline handling proficiency on reflection. The skill-set is transferable to other scenarios.
QF stated becoming more involved in domestic flying and I am not sure if the exercises dropped however when QF’s Jensen took over Ansett the sim was reduced to six monthly and the program less demanding.
I went abroad and flew with two different Cadet airlines. The first totally banned circling and visual approaches as the skills too low. The second still required circling approach proficiency though eventually dropped the requirement as the pilot group struggled and this streamlined training costs.
All this was this century! We are dumbing down the job to keep wages low.
I recall well trained cadet pilots being let loose in Mach 2.5 flying machines that weighed the same as a fully loaded DC-9 at age 19 straight after wings awarded.