Originally Posted by
Consol
I have flown both corporate jets and large jet transports and find myself troubled by apparent low levels of experience and ability that seems to permeate the corporate sector...
I'm not sure this type of generalisation is helpful. You say "the corporate sector", but you fail to clarify whether you're referring to corporate flight departments, or just any non-scheduled aircraft. Of course, the latter includes non-scheduled commercial air transport operators and private operators.
However, in general, I agree with you and there is value in having the conversation. In a multi crew environment, where was the monitoring to trap this error? Discipline is often lacking in non-scheduled operations and I believe this to be from a number of factors. Smaller operators lack the resources to adequately analyse incidents and develop robust defences, whilst also lacking the resources to mine available incident data from other operators. Familiarity breeds poor discipline and relaxing of SOPs, which must be guarded against. A poor understanding of the benefits of a robust SOP culture and cockpit discipline is often accompanied by general disdain for scheduled CAT operations where "they only use the autopilot and can't really fly." Finally, a lack of competitiveness seems to breed less hungry FOs. Having been involved in command training in airlines, FOs were motivated to acquire the relevant regulatory and systems knowledge independently. I don't see that as the default situation in non-scheduled transport, where the environment is less disciplined. Couple this with the many flights consisting of two commanders switching seats between legs and it is an area where groups such as the IBAA or EBAA need to start a discussion.
These are my general observations, and there are exceptions i.e. private operators of one or two aircraft who are well drilled and exceedingly disciplined, or larger corporate operators who must have non-scheduled standard SOPs to cater for frequent different pairings of crew.
Finally, I know certain members here such as Pace favour the FAA system over the EASA system, being a pilot of an N-Reg with only an FAA licence. Do not forget that each ICAO member state has sovereignty over the airspace over their territory. Whatever the regulations and standards, it's our jobs as professionals to be current with applicable regulation, not argue the merits of different systems as though this somehow defends ignorance.