SpeedbirdEh,
First of all, its STC, not STS. On your next medical perhaps you can get them to concentrate on your eyesight a little more.
Second, you sure make a lot of assumptions on my part. I made no comment on the state of the airlines in Canada in this thread (as yet). In my opinion Air Canada (or "Canadia" as you choose to spell it with signs of contempt) is a failure whose emergence from bankruptcy virtually unscathed is (to use your term) disgusting. And the rest of the operators are second class at best from a global perspective.
You say that my comments about 18 year old airline pilots are not backed by any statistical means. No sh*t Sherlock. That’s because there isn't enough data. That’s like saying that there is no overwhelming statistical evidence that poking your eye with a pin hurts. Not enough people are stupid enough to do it. The lack of 18 year olds in the right or left seat of heavy iron isn't accidental.
There is a lack of statistical data regarding commercial single engine IFR operations too. But you won’t see me board a PC-12 or a Cessna 208 on a commercial flight. Call it irrational if you like. We all have our own personal comfort threshold and paying for a ticket to launch into the arctic in the winter at night with less than 2 engines, crosses my comfort threshold. You don’t even need to add the 18 year old.
You speak about how AMEs enter an apprenticeship program and how this is comparable to a first officer in an airliner. Do you really think this is a valid comparison? I would certainly hope that a first officer has undergone a great deal more training than an AME apprentice. A copilot is an active part of the flight crew and is expected to be able to operate the aircraft under normal conditions, and should certainly be able to operate the aircraft if the captain becomes incapacitated.
I wouldn't trust an apprentice to perform and certify maintenance on an aircraft without oversight and certainly NOT large transport aircraft. An apprentice AME, even one that works in an airline, is not, in any way shape or form, similar to a copilot in a large transport aircraft. When an AME apprentice screws up, the checks and balances that are mandated to exist catch the problem before the aircraft is returned to service. We need only to look to the Air Canada RJ accident in Halifax to see that this doesn't work for "apprentice" flight crew.
You have also, in my opinion, shifted the blame for the dismal Canadian aviation industry, at least from a pilot perspective, from the real problem: Canadian commercial pilots are whores. What exactly is the incentive for airlines in Canada to commit to any sort of creative training solutions when pilots, for the most part, are a dime a dozen? Hell, some of them will even pay for their training!
The exception of course is Air Canada, but their pilot’s union is so mired in stupidity, that they have become ineffective and more of a liability to the company than an asset.
And…that’s the end of my rant. Before you respond, please make sure you read the whole thread carefully, lest you put words in my mouth again SpeedbirdEh.