different perspectives/insights
The 1500 hour minimum requirement might not just be a question of internal US affair but an attempt to regulate the flow (or outflow) of pilots in and out of the US... and lessen the impact on other countries' aviation industry during crisis times.
When a 250 hour pilot gets a type rating on an EMB145 or CRJ200 and the crisis hits in the US, we observe a huge flood of pilots in other continents, especially Asia these days, complitely saturating the market overseas, creating major problems for pilots in these countries to find jobs.
A 250 hour pilot means he will upgrade sooner to a bigger airplane, and when the crisis hits in the US, now we get a rush of A320/B737 pilots with no jobs invading the rest of the world (except Europe). It's not normal for a pilot in another country that has all his licenses and time to be an FO an a machine can't find a job because there are no less than thousands of US FOs on narrow bodies with no less than 5000 hours asking for jobs !!!!
and for those pilots that do find jobs, when they have a contract and things go better in the US well, what do these pilots do ? what about the US carriers ? do they have to go all over again through pilot training cycles at their own costs?
The impact of having 250 hour pilots on the right seat of an air carreer is not just limited to the US and not just safety. Personnally I don't see much of a difference between a 1000 hour or 1500 hour CRJ FO. What is happening now is more global... I believe people in the aviation industry today need to think on a much wider/more global scale. Every country in the world is raising its standards, I am certain the congress is going that way as well.
If people have different opinions or think I am wrong, please give your opinions, it will help thinking it over with different perspectives !!
cheers
Last edited by MaintainYourHeading; 6th Aug 2009 at 16:30.
Reason: typos