Why do people think that a simple raising of hrs requirements will fix the problem of shoddy acft handling, poor discipline and low tech knowledge ie poor Airmanship. The long held belief that hrs in the logbook = greater proficiency and expertise, is truly misguided and any no. of air crash events involving very experienced crews making fundamental errors will attest to that. The FAA 1500hrs requirement is purely born out of expediency and lack of drive to employ real corrective measures through relevant and focused trng. As with all things, we simply look for the quick fix. Until regulators force all air operators to provide fair and adequate trng to their pilots, accidents due to pilot error (mishandling) will continue to occur.
Modern day airline pilots are so overwhelmed with pointless admin, procedures and automation complacency/policy, that their actual flying skills are almost non-existent, even at highly regarded airlines like my employer. So who is to blame for this? Whenever an accident occurs, the airline is examined as they are the ones who employ the pilots and own the acft. Pilots like to be considered as professionals, but increasingly their professionalism is being compromised by the commercial imperative to keep aviation affordable and to increase profits for the airline. The problem is that the company does not provide them with the necessary practise to hone their flying skills to anything but an ever deceasing minimum standard. Sadly there's no easy fix, as any airline that does spend the additional money on adequate sim trng will quickly find itself behind the eight ball financially, as other lesser airlines simply conduct the regulators bare minimum. The common cry we hear from Airline Management is that the traveling public demand cheaper airfares, thus all airlines must operate to increasingly stringent budgets - this is truly specious reasoning. Do we ask a doctor to cut corners on our treatment? Do we want an electrician to wire our homes in a shoddy manner to save a few bucks or expect our accountant to claim illegal deductions that would put us in jail? Then why would the average passenger be happy with a lowering of standards in the pilots that fly them around in potentially life threatening situations? The answer is they just don't know any better. The traveling public trust the regulators to ensure that air travel meets all reasonable levels of safety and that any disreputable outfit would be grounded - they pay taxes to allow these gov't bodies to achieve that goal. The 'average joe' knows nothing about what is a safe standard and what isn't in aviation , just as he doesn't know what medical practises are endorsed or if a 5 or 50Amp fuse should be installed in their household circuit board or what tax agreements there are between countries 'X' and 'Y', hence they pay professionals to do that for them.
There are regulating bodies for all important industries and they are responsible for safe standards. They should be ensuring airlines don't go on the cheap with trng and recruitment, something that has been happening continuously throughout the time I've been in this industry -the LCC phenomenon is a readily identifiable case in point. Professionals paying for their own endorsements and in some cases for their own recurrent checking and trng, allows Airlines to devolve themselves of their responsibility for ensuring even the most meagre of standards. This is truly a miscarriage of proper conduct in any professional industry. I believe that Aviation regulators worldwide have been doing the traveling public a great disservice by promoting air travel rather than properly supervising it. We're seeing a highly dangerous paradigm of capitalist forces being allowed to determine the relative safety levels of important industries that are inherently complex and if conducted carelessly, can lead to disaster and loss of life. As a non-aviation eg. just consider the recent BP oil drilling catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, in regards to the need for good governance by regulators instead of tolerating corporate greed. Notably, BP would be far better off as a company if it was denied a licence to drill in such a precarious location.
Flying skills, regardless of how long you've had them (ie. hrs in the logbook) or how much innate talent you possess, are perishable. Regular pilot refresher trng by skilled and responsible trng personnel, not simply assessment to the minimum level, is necessary for a healthy aviation industry. This of course is expensive and unfortunately for the traveling public, for your own good the reality is, a flight
should cost more than a bus ticket.
