Fed up of Poor FO's

[Thrush]

Pilot Pete - Well said; you've got a lot of pertinent points.

Self-Selection by chequebook is what this is all about. Back to the bad old days of the 1930s Pre-war Auxilliary Air Force which was, apparently (I wasn't there.....), a rich-chaps flying club. When the war came the Sergeant Pilot came into his own - selected on merit and flying skill, not who daddy was.

There is absolutely no subsitute for a couple of years flogging around in the icing in an ATR or jetstream.

We get new F/Os from various backgrounds and I know who I'd rather be flying with if I'm bumping about, flogging back from Eygpt at 5 a.m. towards the end of a 14 hour day with the QRH on my lap, running NNCs and the weather is going down all the while........ Not someone I have to prompt every time I fly with them, even in Normal Operations, I know that.

There are even guys and gals out there who have been poleing some hot ships, such as EMB 145s, in the LHS for a couple of years, who'd jump at the chance of a RHS on a bigger shiny thing for the same money; it must cost a fortune in extra training and use up trainers for say, 60 sectors, when an experienced bloke/blokess would take probably 14 or so.

I always advise youngsters to "do their time" and not to try to run before they can walk, as they will see the benefit in bucket-loads during their careers.

THERE IS NO SUBSITUTE FOR EXPERIENCE