Maximus
All of the employers i know do lament the inability to do an oil change (so...TEACH IT)
AGREED!
I always have CPL students in the hangar for a day getting hands on and I know other schools that do the same. The problem with saying "just teach it" is that each school is competing with all the other schools who teach to
the same CASA requirements. To add other items to a syllabus takes more hours and therefore dollars. Most students shop on price.
"How much will it cost me to get a CPL?" NOT "How employable will I be at the end of your course of training?" This is a universal disease. eg Why buy a $200 DVD player when you can buy one for $99? Selling quality to people who often are too young to
see the quality can be difficult.
The other way of looking at this is that if there is consensus amongst aviation employers that the CPL "product" is not of a suitable standard then representations should be made to CASA by industry groups to lobby for changes. Remember that CASA only regulates for "safety" under the Aviation Act and so if Billy Top Gun cannot do an oil change then it is up to the industry to train him.
Using your C172 on a rough day (good example) their licence and CPL course will have prepared them for that. Also remember the limitation of competency based training (CBT) you are either deemed competent or not yet competent there is no other status such as high distinction or marginal pass. A pass is a pass.
If CASA mandated more hours or some such then I wwould have no problem as every school would have to comply but the schools who often put in the extra and then obviously have to charge for this sometimes miss out because they are maybe $2000 more than another school.
CASA has now convened a flight training industry panel and hopefully this will add some useful input to CASA. It also depends on how you view the pilot on the day that they pass their CPL test. Do you think they should be "work ready" or simply ready to start an apprentiship or internship? Remember that the Chief Pilot has a role in training, mentoring and developing new pilots so spending a week in the company hangar should be a role for the employer and not the training organisation. Loking at other industries the precedent is there to be followed.
Merry Christmas.
