Flight Training with SKYVEST....beware!!!!!

[wheels up]

I don't dispute that making a profit is the underlying driving factor behind any business. However, a balance needs to be struck somewhere along the line for the overall good of the industry. Unfortunately, you will always find individuals whose only consideration is making a quick buck.

Rotating co-pilots every 200 hours means that that there is never actually a fully functioning crew on board, especially when you consider that many of the P2s will only have 200 hours total time when they start flying the aircraft. If you were employing P2s for your Metroliner, would a 200 hour fresh com be your first choice if safety and not economics was your primary motive??

This cannot be equated to a training bond. The purpose of a training bond is to cover the cost of training should the pilot decide to leave the company before the company has seen a return on its training investment. A training bond covers the cost of the initial conversion, thereafter the pilot earns an appropriate salary. It is not expected that the pilot leaves as soon as he starts to become profficient at flying the aircraft!

"Problem is how else are some of these folks going to get time.."
Easy - the way the rest of us did - work their way up the ladder.

Furthermore, the fact that the operation is essentially a training outfit puts substantially more pressure on the captain, especially in IMC and when thinks go pear shaped. Is this in the interest of the passenger?

I am sure we would all be interested to hear from anyone that has participated in this scheme. I heard a rumour that one of the Metros had been sent up to Gabon on a contract but that it barely flew up there.

What next? Medical students paying to work in hospitals, engineers forking out to gain work experience, teachers buying teaching experience. It just doesn't happen does it? Virtually every other industry operates on the principal of best person for the job (well - maybe not is SA!) Would you be happy in the knowledge that the surgeon operating on you was in his position due to fact that he had a rich daddy? I think not. Why should aviation be any different, especially when the stakes are so high.