Originally Posted by Rat 5
Here might be a clue why skills have deteriorated; because it is an SOP.
It is the training departments who have allowed skills to deteriorate and the XAA's who have allowed them to do it. Training = money. If it can be designed out of the operation by the use of automatics & SOP's then money is saved and the perception is safety is enhanced. ... I hope there will be a change to that mind-set, but I do not hold my breath.
Rat 5: This post is probably THE most cogent, articulate, precise, and ACCURATE summary of the situation I’ve read in any document or heard in any discussion so far … particularly your description of the “doorstep” on which the responsibility should be placed – training – and your naming the 2 organizations that are the primary culprits in this travesty – the company training department and the regulator … and, I almost stood IN my chair and punched the air when you put the “icing on the cake” with your comment that the reason this travesty is allowed to continue is that “…money is saved and the
perception that safety is enhanced is advocated.” The members of this industry should all recognize the value of your description … but … as you so correctly lament “…I do not hold my breath.” We need someone, someplace, who occupies such a visible or recognizable position that will allow whatever this person says to have such a significant impact on the organizations you named, and/or on the traveling public that buys tickets on airplanes, that this issue will be addressed! This person, where ever he/she is, must be willing to stand up and shout, very loudly, over and over, just exactly what you said, to motivate these 2 organizations to fix this very “fixable” calamity! Failing that, this industry is likely going to continue to suffer these kinds of completely avoidable disasters!