Ayla, why do you think airlines are now looking into cadets, MPL and other ab initio programs when experienced pilots are available? Do you seriously think this is for operational reasons? Please don't take the existence of such programs as a good justification, it's purely a matter of cost reduction and "control" over younger inexperienced pilots.
For decades airline pilots had to go through different stages in order to acquire experience before reaching the right seat of an airliner. This can be instruction, aerial work, then corporate turboprops and jets before finally having an substantial background. I personally think it is quite useful to have experienced things like night NDB procedures on uncontrolled airfields with low visibility and icing conditions and it's not time to discover these things when you have 100 paxs behind you. The A320 might be a good machine but certainly not for instruction purposes. You need to "feel" lots of things to get a better experience which you cannot easyly achieve in a 320. Do you think cadets flying DA42 over a flat and sunny country would have the same skills than experienced pilots when it comes to land a 330 on a slipery RWY during a storm? Look at this poor LH cadet with 250h who almost crashed her 320... she is not to be blamed at all while she was probably given an unrealistic goal when it comes to fly with such bad weather.
I have nothing against wannabees, on the contrary, but simply think about the reasons why such programs are now available... to me it is absolutely not for the sake of flight safety or the wannabees themselves but only airlines accountants.
Last edited by S.F.L.Y; 26th April 2009 at 17:06.