Odds n Sods

[Uplinker]

DEI ? Oh right, just looked it up. Yes, quite possibly.

What I do know is that airlines are not interested in the mature pilot with years of experience - unless that pilot is a Captain.

I have now finally given up trying, but many airlines rejected my applications even though I have a proven 20 year record of TransAtlantic, European, African, Middle East flying, as a Senior First Officer, on narrow body and wide body aircraft, Airbus (mainly) and Boeing.

Virgin Atlantic keep popping up on my LinkedIn feed saying I am perfectly qualified for their Airbus fleet and routes, (yes, I know I am), and I have started their assessment process twice. Each time, part way through, they have worked out my probable age and decided not to bother going any further.

So I have lost about 8 years of airline employment, (and wages), since my last airline employer went bust.

Obviously, I might be a terrible pilot, but while acknowledging that I am not Chuck Yeager, I do know that I am fully competent and very experienced. My CV and flying record of seven commercial type ratings are solid proof. (I never made Captain because the two main airlines I flew for went bust before I had been at either long enough to apply).

But the airlines now concentrate very heavily on psychometric testing and for example expect us to complete 30 maths questions in 12 minutes.

I think this approach might well be selecting the wrong people. Pilots NEVER need to do 30 maths questions in 12 minutes. In fact the opposite is true: Experienced pilots take time, and make time, to work carefully through any situation, working as a team to resolve it.

We are now seeing "pilots" who fail to take off. "Pilots" who fail to fly a go-around. "Pilots" who overrun the runway. "Pilots" who cannot even manage a normal descent and approach, but who fatally crash the aircraft. "Pilots" who cannot even read their basic flying instruments and don't climb safely away after take-off.

So I think the airlines are looking for completely the wrong traits in pilot assessments these days, and they really need to go back to basics and consider the mature experienced pilots instead.
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