What prevents US airlines from recruiting overseas for the pilot shortage? The FAA or TSA's background security checks?
Years ago, an Asian country (or airline) paid a regional airline in the Midwest to use its new FOs on turboprops, in order to help them acquire real-world experience before returning to the home country.
The airline supposedly spent little or none of its money for these FOs.
Other than language handicaps or security complications, what would stop US airlines from putting pressure on Cabinet-level people in order to expedite this process and cut corners? These VIP career ticket-punchers are appointed by whoever resides in the White House. We know what corners were cut by Reagan and Bush Sr. (in their worlds majority stockholders are perfumed princes-staff/workers the unlettered scum) in order to allow, by rubber-stamping anything, the "glory of deregulation" to blossom (according to John Nance, it directly caused the deaths of many passengers
By the way, Nance's first edition of the book about Braniff Airlines [and 'allegedly' AMR's Sabre computer res. system], "Splash of Colors" was never allowed into bookstores etc...).
We read in "Aviation Week & ST" in the 90s about various US govt. DOT Administrative Judges who ruled in favor of whatever TAC issues were presented, and somehow found jobs waiting at Lorenzo's Texas Air Corp. after government retirement. Coincidence? Much of the present situation here began when Congress (+Senator Kennedy with Pres. Carter and a motley crew) and others were charmed by the highly flawed economic theories of that formerly academic deregulation 'guru' jackass, Mr. Alfred Kahn. He already owned so much allegedly real or tentative airline stock (allegedly courtesy of the Texas Air Corporation
) that he was clearly unbiased in his obscure, convoluted arguement$.
What will stop some of these elements from returning to further damage the US airlines via the backdoor, as the nation is focused on the Middle East and the intellectually (for most of the USA...:
) challenging concept of how long celebrities remain in the LA jail?