"If that were the case, the RAAF would not be entrusting our sophisticated fighter jets to pilots with less than 500 hours of flight experience," Mr Davis said in the statement.
The possible differences here are that the RAAF:
- is not an airline,
- is
very selective about who gets a crack at "sophisticated fighter jets", (or any aircraft for that matter!)
- is meticulous about the training and assessment hurdles which must be passed in order to be entrusted with said jets,
- does not recruit pilots based on who can pay for their own training, (other than in blood, sweat & tears like any pilot)
- actively seeks from the start to instil airmanship, judgment and command decision-making into pilots, (a trait not appreciated in some airlines which appear to want gullible "compliants" in flight decks) and
- is very rigourous about the standards required to keep flying those machines. (some don't "do" fighters for long)
Airlines outwardly stick to the same types of mantra; selectivity, standards, training, experience. Is the RAAF system perfect? No. But it's a darn site more demanding than simply encouraging the young and impressionable, on the disingenuous hint of a glittering high-paid glamour career, to part with hard-earned to effectively get a mediocre shift-working job for lower real pay than ever before in the industry. And that happens while truly experienced pilots are cunningly circumvented because they are paid more: ask the QF and even the Jetstar pilots!
I know a young person who, when they found how little a RAAF trainee makes, let alone GA, decided that their $120K+/yr driving trucks was the better option. THIS is what will make Mr Davis' recruiting job harder, so I hope the experience and training criteria are tightened in order to force companies to train pilots for the long and safe careers the paying public expect, and thinks pilots are still getting.
Furthermore, another flawed analogy:
"...a fatal airline accident involving two experienced pilots who - ironically - had well over 2000 hours of flight experience each."
is, more than experience levels, about the safety impact of arduous work rules and the low-pay pressures. But sensible fatigue management might cost money too, and is therefore another facet of the enquiry companies will seek to pre-emptively discredited!
I feel better now...