Worrying trend in European Aviation
Some of my thoughts regarding the explosion of buying your own type rating with some hours on type. The present position today is there is only just enough captains in the narrow body sector. If the trend continues of training F/O’s and putting a nominal amount of hours in their log book and then releasing them into the market, with only little or no hope of permanent employment. Do this enough times and the result is less and less F/O’s building the few thousand hours required for the left seat. This situation helps no one in the end, the airlines when they cannot find suitable Captain candidates, so will they drop their standards? The hundreds and hundreds of F/O’s with little or no experience who cannot find work because some Airlines are filling a ‘niche’ in the market and subsidising their operation. Other Airlines will follow this as time goes by.
I invite comments from individuals and Airline alike.
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