I have rarely known such heartfelt predictions to be made on PPRuNe with Pace and perhaps Bookie and Peterh337 on one side of the fence, BoseX and 421C on the other.
I believe strongly in licence recognition as nothing else makes any sense.
Aviation knows no boundaries and pilots should be able to work freely worldwide.
It is absolute madness that I can fly across Europe as a Captain in a jet at present but all of a sudden because of some regulators who are not regulating to their mandate of safety I would be required to hold licences which have no bearing or relevance to the aircraft I am flying.
This is protectionism of the worst kind and should have no bearing in a modern world.
Licence recognition HAS to come and the only way that can happen is by convergence of licencing standards.
Hear EASA have failed our industry massively as they had the opportunity of regulating to bringing European standards in line with the FAA but instead went off trying to reinvent the wheel.
Mad Jock inadvertently hit on a point that it was not right that so many foreign registered aircraft should be Europe based yet controlled from 2000 miles away!
That point has some merit!
In a free market society which we are supposed to be although I am starting to doubt that! The normal way to compete is to offer something which is more attractive than your competitor.
There are reasons why so many N reg are Europe based.
EASA could have got rid of N reg by putting something equally or more attractive in place.
This is nothing I know but a bi lateral could be dual control over 3rd country aircraft which are foreign based.
The FAA could give EASA control rights over foreign based aircraft which in itself would negate the need for dual licences.
I wonder if a Bi Lateral may be something along those lines rather than licence convergence and acceptance.
Sadly licence convergence and acceptance should be the way forward but EASA have missed their chance unless there is some real give and take with the FAA.
As for a legal challenge should all fail I would imagine this would be brought by AOPA and not financed by an individual.
Pace