Originally posted by thowmas
. . . if they thought there was any risk or doubt about the cadets flying LH then this program would simply not be running. . .
Probably, but . . .
To be honest they know what they're doing . . .
I'm not so sure.
Sure, they're not going to be as experienced as someone with 2000hrs, but then again neither are the hundreds of other cadets flying SH on most airlines around Europe nowadays anyway.
SH is completely different to LH. None of us are really current (rather than legal), most of us are kn@ckered and we fall back on experience and motor memory. They have very little to fall back on. The fact that this
has been going on for a while in SH with no problems is not evidence that it's a good idea. Sometimes problems take a very long time to lead to a smoking hole. In fact, if the rest of the air transport system is any good, it should take a long time. Aerospace has had plenty of examples of "good ideas" not looking quite so clever many years later.
No doubt I'll be flying with this lot in a few years and will just have to make the best of it. In that respect it's no different to many other questionable aspects of the job. My opinion is irrelevant, I just fly the line as well as I can.
I'm sure we'll have plenty of applicants, especially in the current jobs market. All I'd say is be careful what you wish for. I wouldn't wish a 40+ year career of pure LH on my worst enemy, and that's in the current industry. To be blunt, I'm not convinced that the type of person who signs up for that life plan is the kind of person who should actually be a pilot. Have a good think about what's coming next. Four plus decades is a long time.
But I do agree with StopStart. It's not the end of the world.