Mikehammer
"and I assume you are alluding to the commonly held belief that pay-to-fly pilots are unsafe"
I'm not saying they are unsafe, they hold the same licence that I do and undergo the same training. I do however think they are immoral and in the end cutting their own throats. I have been flying quite a while and came up the old way. No jumping straight into a jet with 200 hours. I was selected by an airline for my ability to do the job, not my ability to pay. Started on turboprops and built my way up on my merits rather than my dad's chequebook. I am now in the position that having been laid off again, I cannot get a look in because all the entrant schemes are reserved for 200 hour graduates of flying schools who are willing to work for nothing or even pay to do the job at the expense of the more experienced who have fallen on hard times. I spent many years in the RHS of a heavy and never attained command as a result so I am now caught between a rock and a hard place. Too many hours to get an FO job and no P1 time so no chance of a DEC. Wonderful.
As far as the fatal accident scenario goes, I sincerely hope it never happens. The willingness of the pay to fly brigade has encouraged the managements to think that they can cut all costs to the bone. Training is expensive and I can see it being the next thing to go under the axe. One day in the sim rather than two, bare minimum to get pilots legal again and back on the line. Modern aircraft go wrong infrequently so the only place that you ever see certain faults, multiple failures and engines going bang at the wrong time is the sim. A few years of this practice and suddenly Captain Grump of Sod 'em all airlines has a heart attack or a dose of the runs and 20 yr old FO Wannapay is on his own. Cue major failure. Now what? Hopefully Wannapay will have the wherewithal to sort things out but he may not. He may have never practised emergency descent drills or whatever since the type rating. The result could easily be fatal. Not necessarily his (or her) fault but once the press get wind of the fact that people were injured or killed or an aircraft trashed or all three, and the guy up front bought his way into the profession despite failing an aptitude test years before and I can leave the rest up to your imagination. A similar scenario has already occurred in the States and the FAA have now limited these schemes to pilots with 1500 hours minimum.
I think much of this stems from the culture of instant gratification that is now the norm. I want it now and I'll get it now because I've got the money. Previously, you waited your turn and kept trying until you succeeded. That's all gone and its all me, me me until they get bored and go off to do something else leaving the industry in tatters and those left behind on miserable T & C's assuming they even still have jobs. Once these processes are started and the race to the bottom is underway it's nearly impossible to stop. Personally I think its too late. Our profession will become part time or summer only and training, upgrades etc will be payable by the candidate. Every job seems to be going the same way which is why I reckon you need something else to back it up. Things tend to go in cycles and the tide may turn but I'm not holding my breath.
Wonderful world isn't it?