fibod
17th Apr 2002, 20:54
Minus273 raised some interesting points on this thread (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=50051&pagenumber=2) about FAA instructors. I have experience with working with both the FAA and JAA systems, and I think it is important that people who may be considering FAA training, or training with a school that uses low hours instructors, understand the difference between the JAA and FAA systems.
In the US, student pilots will pay for their own training. On completion they will be issued with a FAA licence and be unemployable as an airline pilot. Somehow, they have to build their hours until they reach the minimum requirements for a regional airline or FAR Part 135 operator. The traditional route is to become an instructor. Under normal circumstances they will become competitive for a FO job with a regional airline when they have 1500 hours. Until Sep 11th last year, this total time requirement was dropping under supply and demand pressures. A pilot will not normally be considered for a FO job with a major airline until they have >5000 hours.
One of the reasons that training in the US is cheap is because there is a never ending supply of low hours instructors, willing to work long hours for little pay to build their experience. Similarly inexperienced instructors probably trained them. A similar situation exists in the UK at the PPL/flying club level.
There is nothing wrong with this system. The safety records and professionalism of the US airlines is not in question, testimony to the system working well. I have met both very able and very incompetent instructors in both systems.
In the UK, and other parts of the world, the route to an airline job can be different, although it is possible to follow a similar path to that I have described above. A pilot can train in the UK at a commercial flight school, staffed largely by experienced instructors (career instructors, or those who have retired from the military or airlines, with 1000s of hours flying and instructing experience behind them), and get a FO job with a major airline with less than 300 hrs TT. The student or an airline may pay for the training. Clearly, the training has to be first rate, and the student pilot has to possess the ability to learn at a very fast rate. Without very able and experienced instructors and able students, this is not a realistic goal. Experienced and able career instructors cost a lot to employ.
The mistake many wannabes make is that they expect to be able to go straight into a major airline without the benefit of the "right" training. Like most things in life, you get what you pay for. A mistake most of the commercial schools make is that they attempt to train prospective commercial pilots who do not possess the aptitude or personality to achieve their employment aspirations on graduation from training. This results in very disgruntled graduates who cannot understand why they cannot get a job.
It's horses for courses - the airlines are full of good pilots who took a long time to get there, making up with experience what they lacked in natural aptitude. However, to go from zero hours to the RHS of a modern jet airliner in 300 hours & 18 months, you not only have to be good, but you need the best training available, and that doesn’t come from a school manned by low hours instructors, and it doesn't come cheap.
In the US, student pilots will pay for their own training. On completion they will be issued with a FAA licence and be unemployable as an airline pilot. Somehow, they have to build their hours until they reach the minimum requirements for a regional airline or FAR Part 135 operator. The traditional route is to become an instructor. Under normal circumstances they will become competitive for a FO job with a regional airline when they have 1500 hours. Until Sep 11th last year, this total time requirement was dropping under supply and demand pressures. A pilot will not normally be considered for a FO job with a major airline until they have >5000 hours.
One of the reasons that training in the US is cheap is because there is a never ending supply of low hours instructors, willing to work long hours for little pay to build their experience. Similarly inexperienced instructors probably trained them. A similar situation exists in the UK at the PPL/flying club level.
There is nothing wrong with this system. The safety records and professionalism of the US airlines is not in question, testimony to the system working well. I have met both very able and very incompetent instructors in both systems.
In the UK, and other parts of the world, the route to an airline job can be different, although it is possible to follow a similar path to that I have described above. A pilot can train in the UK at a commercial flight school, staffed largely by experienced instructors (career instructors, or those who have retired from the military or airlines, with 1000s of hours flying and instructing experience behind them), and get a FO job with a major airline with less than 300 hrs TT. The student or an airline may pay for the training. Clearly, the training has to be first rate, and the student pilot has to possess the ability to learn at a very fast rate. Without very able and experienced instructors and able students, this is not a realistic goal. Experienced and able career instructors cost a lot to employ.
The mistake many wannabes make is that they expect to be able to go straight into a major airline without the benefit of the "right" training. Like most things in life, you get what you pay for. A mistake most of the commercial schools make is that they attempt to train prospective commercial pilots who do not possess the aptitude or personality to achieve their employment aspirations on graduation from training. This results in very disgruntled graduates who cannot understand why they cannot get a job.
It's horses for courses - the airlines are full of good pilots who took a long time to get there, making up with experience what they lacked in natural aptitude. However, to go from zero hours to the RHS of a modern jet airliner in 300 hours & 18 months, you not only have to be good, but you need the best training available, and that doesn’t come from a school manned by low hours instructors, and it doesn't come cheap.