In my case they would be renewing their Mulit pilot IR and MEP in one go
Is there anyone still flying a DC6 or similar for a living these days?
I suppose there are the Atlantic pilots?
Even for night flight in the UK, the pilot has to complete at least one take-off and landing at night in the last 3 months before carrying passengers. Hard to do over the Summer period. The IR absolves them from that requirement.
Thus if I am heading back home from whereever in late Spetember and leave it a bit late so that the weather will clear, I do not have to worry that I have not flown this SEP at night for 6 months while loading my friends because I can fly at night with passengers on the basis of my SPIR. You can not do that with an IMC rating.
You also forget that I can renew my SPIR every second year in the FNPT2. I can not do that for the IMC rating which must be completed in the aircraft. Very easy to forward fast the sim........not possible in the aircraft.
There are very few poorly paid JAR-ATPL holders. i.e. not the ones who have never flown more than a C150 all their "career". If they can't afford the SPIR then they will be moving job and probably will not be paying to go flying in their recreational time.
Regards,
DFC