Originally Posted by
Oasis
Half of the captains have left...
Cathay can have 2 out of 3 of the following:
1. Enough pilots to run a full scedule.
2. Cos-18 paid pilots.
3. Good quality pilots.
we will see which 2 cx will choose...
Spot on, and they’re clearly choosing 1 and 2.
Instead of quality aviators, they’re choosing to count on modern aircraft being much easier to fly and the general dumbing-down of the profession. For the one aircraft we still operate that requires a modicum of skill, they plan to depend heavily on the remaining experienced skippers shouldering the load of flying with inexperienced guys and girls (several of whom only a few years ago would never even have been hired as S/Os, let alone checked to the line in the RHS).
For the rest, they plan on relying on blind luck (what could go wrong?) If the unthinkable happens, well, that’s what insurance is for. Much hand-wringing and navel-gazing will follow, as will words of condolence and a “full investigation“. Some heads will roll on the third floor, but by then realistically those actually responsible for this train wreck will have long since cashed their sizeable bonuses and waltzed off.
We really should know better in a safety-sensitive industry, but this is a repeating cycle that even Boeing fell for recently: in the tug of war between bottom-line-obsessed accountants and safety-obsessed engineers/pilots, if you let the balance sway too far in the direction of cost-saving, smoking holes are the inevitable end result.
Let’s hope our luck holds.