JY,
Geez....don't misunderstand me. After a few years of training under their belts our guys are great! Our training system is one of the best and our young pilots develop quite nicely. Hats off to them!!
We all had 200 hundred flying hours at one point in our careers. The first 1000 hours for any pilot are formative (quality) and play a large role in determining how a young pilot develops. I've always felt that after 5000 hours of quality time, pilots are very similar (and equal) in ability.
With the foregoing in mind, hiring cadet pilots in careful proportion to experienced pilots, is a feasible cost/risk undertaking; as long as it is managed very carefully. A 200 hour pilot needs to safely get to 5000 hours. During that journey, the more exposure that an inexperienced pilot has to pilots with experience....the better.
My point is simply this: please, let's not jump the shark and try to say that hiring a 200 hour pilot is just as good (or even better???) than hiring an experienced pilot.
Let's leave that line of argument to non-pilot managers who might also argue that 3-man long haul is just as safe as 4-man.
Last edited by raven11; 22nd Aug 2016 at 08:35.