Southend, you make some valid, and very coherent points...however, lets be pragmatic about all this, HR departments exist for their own ends.
An entire industry has grown up out of the requirement (mistakenly in my opinion) to offload..filter..analyse...and select candidates for private companies.(not just airlines) In todays cost vs benefit environment..it is often short term cost that is viewed rather than long-term benefit, Im afraid that many of the HR personnel that I have had the misfortune to have to deal with, view the entire exercise of assessing an individuals characteristics as either a cost or benefit. In this sense it is often the least suitable personality who also has the lowest total training requirement that wins the day..once again due to an HR deptartment setting policy based on flawed management models.
You need go no further than look at the SSTR schemes out there for desperate wannabes...even line training at a cost to the individual!
Put another way, yes HR depts have a role to play, but they should not be setting policy in areas where they have little or no expertise, this relates specifically to assessing flying aptitude, ability, and crew co-ordination and effectiveness.
As a final example of this, let me relate another HR story.
I attended pre-screening of a european carrier which involved the usual battery of tests.....as I was successful..but later turned down the job offer, I trust you will see I have no axe to grind.
Attending this pre-screening was also a very experienced pilot, who has to date logged around 7000 command hrs on the particular A/C type this airline operates..(he was pre-screened as this was company HR policy).....staggeringly the individual concerned was considered unsuitable, his test scores indicated he was incapable of operating the A/C successfully. Furthermore the individual also has an IQ of at least 160...and is responsible for some of the greatest advances in CRM...in the last 20 years. Yet due to his inability to tick the correct "HR" boxes, he was excluded from the initial selection.
Just something to ponder....
Cheers H
