WingoWango
767200ER
Maybe you are defending the position of P2F and P4T as you have just spent 28K on a loan for a type rating? I appreciate your back may be to the wall and you have every right to do what you like. But in my honest opinion the whole pay for type rating, to then be a contractor was one of the reasons how the whole P2F thing started to become more and more popular. Airlines noticed they could get FO's into the right hand seat, make them pay for an interview, then offer them a job as a contractor etc etc and it started to evolve into some of the schemes you see today.
I agree that its not very correct to say all 250hr F/O's straight out of the factory are dangerous and a risk. But i certainly do think a case can be made that airlines that allow people to pay into the RHS do attract a lower caliber of newbie. Now before im jumped on, some i'm sure are very very capable and just as good as the next guy. But like i say, i trained with some of the guys/girls who did not do great in training and quite frankly lacked any desire!! They had interviews with airlines that do NOT require any payment and they failed, but they now sit in the RHS of airlines that DID require payment. Go figure
Maybe... not. The operator i have just got hired by asks that you pay for your own type rating, thats all, after that you are as secure in its present success as any other pilot you see flying the line, provided your flying is up to standard, you pass all flying tests and 6monthly checks, as it is with any other airline. My beef with this argument is where people make a direct link between p2f and safety. Its an unfounded claim, infact its just an assumption somebody made and it has snowballed into this collective chant of p2f "is bad for safety and erodes t's & c's." Also in this petition, you state most pilot flying these aeroplanes have "less than 200hours"... if you can name anyone who has ever been issued a frozen ATPL with less than 200 hours i will eat my own licence. integrated or not, even if you fly in the minimum time (which would mean you are a sh*t hot pilot anyway), by the time you add the hours you log during the type rating it is impossible to have less than 200 hours.
Another bit of wording that just screams "dramatisation" is the ending,
are both incompetent and incapable of flying the aircraft in the event of incapacitation of the training pilot. I consider this a dangerous practise and ultimately an accident waiting to happen.
This practise needs to be stopped immediately.
If you go through your basic and professional training, an MCC course AND a type rating and you are still "incompetent & incapable" of flying the aircraft, you shouldn't be a pilot. In any case if you knew anything about how line training works, you would know that a safety pilot is on board, for this VERY reason.
You should find it as little surprise if this petition is bottom drawered or binned, it is presented emotionally rather than logically. Unless you're trying to scare or tug at heart strings, it will prove impotent.
There are a lot of factors that have resulted in "t's & c's" eroding in this and every other industry in the world, finance, manufacture, 9-5'ers, doctors, teachers, rocket scientists you name it,one of them being the recession... no industry is immune, or are you saying they are all facing these problems because the juniors in their field are paying to get a step up?
A bad pilot is a bad pilot, regardless of the amount of money they have or don't have.
A good pilot is a good pilot, regadless of the amount of money they have or don't have.
Just because someone paid for their type rating with operator 'X' does not mean their doing you out of pay at operator 'Y' so don't blame them for your terms and conditions.
Ryanair adopted a low cost model from southwest airlines, ryanair used to be a legacy carrier, it has had exponential growth and solid financial security since changing the way it does business. Other airlines then followed suite, to varying levels, be it charging for meals, charging for check in, charging for checked in baggage, or charging for a type rating. It may not have been done before, but this is a dynamic industry, and for you to even have a job to complain about, your management has to make decisions that keep your company competitive.
The fat man will never beat the trim athlete in a race. He may be more comfortable to hug and have an amazing personality, but he has to shed weight and get fit to remain competitive.
If you see things changing at your airline, it could be for a whole host of reasons. Don't just say "those newbie p2f guys have caused this" Aviation, as an industry is sensitive to a lot of variables, and any one or combination of them can cause a huge shift in your "t's & c's"