Low, Low Time Commands,
Low, Low Time Commands,
I would be interested to hear from Aviation Professionals (No Spotters, no FS 2004 Captains please) about your thoughts on Very very low time Pilots being promoted as Captains. I know of an individual who instructed on light aircraft for a few years and had about 1000hrs TT. He then decided to pay for a rating and joined a rapidly expanding carrier in Eastern Europe.
After a 1000 hrs on a medium Jet (think 737/A320/757/Fokker100) he was promoted to Captain. I was quite shocked by this. 1000hrs on a jet and 1000hrs on light aircraft which one could argue do not really count towards the experience needed to make a Captain.
All the old guys, especially the Americans,and Pilots from legacy airlines on these forums, who have long long waits to command due to the well worn career path of working your way up the chain from the lightest aircraft, turbo prop, light Jet etc, those Pilots who worked their way up from the bottom of long seniority lists are appalled by relatively Low time Pilots being upgraded to the LHS. Are they right, does an F/O have to sit in the RHS for 20 years before a command? Or are they just being arrogant and assuming like we all do, that our airline does it right and better then everyone else? Are Pilots with 1000Hrs Jet 2000Hrs TT capable and safe enough to be a Captain? An airforce Pilot can often fly a Single Seat Fighter with very low TT, is that different?
In Europe it has been my experience that the likes of Easyjet and Ryanair to name but two have upgraded F/Os with 3000 Hrs TT which usually includes a minimum of 2500hrs on a JAR25 aircraft. Does the extra 2000 hrs make a difference?
Thanks!