"Dare I say those of us who were brought up on basic a/c with basic autopilots
(no autothrust or FMC or EFIS) were "hard wired" for manual flight. We may be a
bit rusty but it's no big deal if we have to hand fly. The modern generation of
pilots have not got this framework to fall back on when it's all falling apart"
And there you have it. Unfortunately, the situations and crashes will only worsen because the airlines won't hire " rusty" guys anymore. I have questioned for 2 years now why a certain airline that my husband had been applying at would not hire him because he was only 1 year past the age limit. Instead of hiring a pilot with over 15,000 hours at age 52, they would rather drop their minimum hour requirements and hire boys who operate computers at 28,000 ft.
Why ? Because the beancounters see it as more cost effective to run an airline with pilots who can offer more years of service, rather than pilots who KNOW how to fly the effin plane. What is the cost of safety these days? I'm sure AF will know that answer very soon
Every year, the airline industry is losing well trained and qualified pilots because bean counters in HR determine who gets hired. Not the Chief Pilot, not the TRI , TRE etc. The younger pilots of today don't have the opportunity to learn to fly. They are NOT trained how to manually fly and how to challenge the dynamics of airspeed vs altitude. They aren't taught how to keep a heavy piece of metal stable and horizontal when something goes wrong. Especially when the computer goes haywire.
Not all now! But Too many in the hiring pool are kids who bought their type rating, never had the opportunity to gain hours on a/c without computers, never had to work up to the majors. And some, well a few have blatantly lied on their log books or falsified docs.
I told my " Rusty" today that while I'm sure he would enjoy flying a newer, shinier, smaller ("Rusty" flies a 747 classic baby) I wouldn't want him anywhere else than what he was about to take off in and I could not be more proud of him. Because my man KNOWS how to fly.
If I had the choice to non rev in 1st or biz class on a 777 or non rev sitting on top of a pallet inside his 747, I would ride with him every time. I know I'm safer.
Now if I could just teach him how to cook.
