Arabian Aerospace - Youngsters fail the personality test
For generations, youngsters entering the airline industry have been driven by the simple desire to fly and to use their professional skills. No longer. She revealed that a survey of future aircraft commanders ranked the top four attractions in becoming a pilot as ‘respect and status’; ‘stability and career progression’; ‘glamour and lifestyle’; and ‘money’. ‘Using flying skills’ came fifth.
Equally worrying was the sense of entitlement that young people were displaying when they came to Symbiotics for assessment on behalf of airlines.
“Kids don’t like being tested,” she said. As fewer airlines sponsored or otherwise paid for the training of cadets, young pilots were increasingly having to fund their own way through training. This, the conference had earlier heard, could cost €100,000-150,000 ($135,000-200,000) and the result, said Heath, was that they felt that they were the clients and did not want to be tested.
When I began flying, you would concentrate on the instruments during the approach, and look out of the window once visual.
FO's these days look out of the window during the approach (trusting the autopilot to fly the thing) then, once visual, stare fixedly at the instruments (lacking the ability to fly an aircraft looking out of the window...)