As someone who has been writing "From the Flightdeck" articles for a number of years, for a well known aviation magazine, I need hardly say that my opinion of this new ruling is difficult to express without the use of expletives.
The jump seat was a wonderful way to inspire an interest in aviation and from my point of view, I found that people are genuinely interested - whether aspiring pilots, "anoraks" or even line pilots - in flying various different types. Going right back down the years, we have articles and footage of virtually every type flown by British airlines in various magazines and even BA's excellent heritage series of videos, which featured among other things, Cat III flying on Tridents, the L1011 and training on VC10s. All fascinating from a historical perspective.
If people want to know in 20-30 years' time, "what was it like to fly a 777, 319, etc", where are they going to get this information, for a UK carrier? There has to be some thought put into this and a complete "nyet" isn't going to work.
An interest in aviation can lead to many different careers - not just piloting, but ATC, even airline management, aeronautical engineering etc. Who gains from suppressing this interest? Of course, there'll never be a pre-9/11 situation again, but I hope that once the CAA has had time to reflect, it will see an advantage in some, even limited access, for specific persons and for the purposes of education and information.
Incidentally, does anyone know (a) if this is now the approach of all JAA member countries and (b) if there are any European countries, e.g. Switzerland or Iceland, which aren't party to the JAA? Many thanks.
Last edited by akerosid; 17th Dec 2002 at 16:54.