Originally Posted by AerocatS2A
The US doesn't have a MPL type system because it doesn't need to, yet.
In my view … the best statement of the day!
What I have reported above looks to be pretty generalized across the spectrum. If these program tests are accurate, it will take a 2-year program to generate the kind of “right-seater” that we would want to see in that seat. If it takes a year or 2 to put together one of these programs, we are going to get to the point you described as “yet,” well before we are ready. I believe our society has become so enamored of, and driven by, “instantaneous gratification” … that we will get way too impatient and decide that the 3- to 4-year wait is too much, and move on to some other less valid but more immediate methodology. I just don’t want to waste time in finding out that some predetermined log book entries – regardless of the devotion of the individuals involved – may not be what we wanted it to be. I would much rather invest time and energy in developing a program that has been shown to be effective (through the military examples AND now through these “beta” test program examples) and have it available to provide a professional first officer for airline operations – even if it is only used to supplement the source provided by the “1500-hour-pilot-sleeping-on-the-sofa-in-the-ready-room-and-mowing-lawns-to-get-the-next-rating” methodology. I’m not trying to get into an “I’m-right-and-you’re-wrong” discussion with anyone. I just want to do all that I can to ensure that those we wind up putting into those airline right seats are the folks we would all want to see there. Our sources are not what they used to be. We are going to have to take people with less total time and less experience than we’ve been used to seeing – that is just about a GIVEN. How we do whatever we do will be something we all have to live (and pardon me, or die) with, and use, regardless of the level of competency we get. Quality in equipment will go a long way toward maintaining the existing safety level – however, while humans do make mistakes, I strongly believe we cannot afford to depend on equipment operation to substitute for professional competency.