Originally Posted by
wheels_down
..Cadets are not the answer to fixing the pilot shortage. Having spoken to a senior check captain recently he acknowledged the quality isn’t there compared to ex GA and his mob wouldn’t go all guns blazing with cadets because the training department couldn’t handle it...
Maybe, I don't know. But in the space I'm familiar with, cadets are the answer. Apply prudent candidate selection, then train them from zero to CPL. Once that is done put them through conversion training onto a fleet type. Then they play SO for a year or so to get into the swing of how it all works. If they're passing their sim checks and appear reasonably capable they get made FO. Only then do they first touch the flight controls with passengers on board. The quality is out there, you just need to identify it, and nurture it through the training pipeline. If the first time you see an airline FO candidate is early in a GA career, after they've paid for their own training, you don't really have a good handle on the quality and suitability of that person for the intended role. If you're hiring somebody off the street and training them from day 1 you can mold them the way you want, and cut them at any point if they're not making the grade. This is the way it works in China, it could be made to work elsewhere.