Excuse me for pointing out the obvious, but sometime you folks are likely going to have to “search” the web yourself. If you go to the ICAO website, in 3 minutes you can find the references listed below which will give you worlds more solid information than you’ll likely get from those who don’t take the time to research and who post their own opinions of something for which they have little (if any) personal knowledge or experience.
It’s quite easy to take “pot-shots” at new and inventive ways of doing things – after all, who would ever think of a “real” pilot using anything like a “flight director,” right? Well, MPL is somewhat in that league. It’s a new approach to pilot training – and the concept is in its infancy. I understand that it will begin “beta” testing – in Australia, I believe – early next year.
There is nothing in the MPL proposals that say anything about restricting training to simulation, although it DOES emphatically and dramatically increase the dependency on simulation in pilot training. That, by itself, is not necessarily a bad thing – given, of course, that the simulators that are ultimately used are quality simulators that actually DO perform and handle like the airplane they are supposed to simulate.
http://www.icao.int/tcb/trainair/mee...e-Sabourin.pdf
http://www.icao.int/icao/en/jr/2007/6203_en.pdf
http://www.icao.int/icao/en/trivia/peltrgFAQ.htm