*THREAD DRIFT ALERT*
As the holder of several licences (there, that's the willy waving done with) I feel qualified to comment.
My FAA licence was far easier to obtain being based upon a conversion from my (then) UK one so subconsciously,
and I know this shouldn't be the case, it
feels inferior. I just don't value it as much as my other licences because it didn't cost me as much financially or in any other way to obtain and I've only used it in anger a couple of times. That's my psychobabble theory anyway. Maybe that's the way some operators/pilots feel too?
When I first researched obtaining a licence I was naturally attracted by the cheap(er) training in the US but knew that if I were to be taken seriously by UK operators I would have to convert it anyway so what was the point? Rightly or wrongly 'they' looked down their noses at an FAA ticket. I knew that from the beginning so didn't go that route. Had I done so I could hardly now complain about not being eligible for work on 'G' registered aircraft could I? We could draw parallels with many countries in the world, JAA-land isn't an anomaly. Is it right? Perhaps not but read on MacDuff.
When I was studying for my UK licence I too thought it was a load of over-complicated, there-for-the-sake-of-it bull**** but once I'd passed.....ahhh, that was different. It sorts the sheep from the goats, see? Keeps the numbers down and all that.
Which in a purely selfish way is a good thing. We're always moaning about lack of work, imagine how it would be if your average school drop-out could get a licence? Oh, hang on, I did
But, if the JAA standards were lowered we'd ALL be whinging and bitching because the work would be spread even more thinly. It's bad enough with the likes of Michael O'Leary cheapening our profession (and some of our own colleagues doing the same by paying to fly or whatever) so surely anything that edges toward retaining a degree of exclusivity is a good thing?
In summary, do I really believe the FAA licence to be inferior? No. Am I glad it's seen that way? Yes, it makes me more employable and justifies in my little head the fortune I spent on my career. If you'd asked me this question seventeen years ago when I was getting started though my response might have been different.
Regards
Flinty (in a selfish and contentious mood today)
Edited to quote
Originally Posted by Vanpilot
As for the FAA v JAA. I've only one point on that......you don't get guy's with 250 hrs flying a large jet in the states.
Australia and New Zealand neither (probably other countries too but I'm confining myself to places of which I have first hand knowledge here) so why is this? It's well documented that a licence is easier/cheaper to obtain in those countries which means there are more pilots ergo the airlines can be more demanding and people have to work their way up through the piston-turboprop-jet route.
This would suggest that you can have either the FAA system whereby you compete for scraps with hordes of others as you claw your way up or the JAA system where numbers are kept low BUT there's always the chance of a Boeingbus upon qualification.
Which do we want?