Yep, flyingpicket, that would be a beginning.

Doctors use their skills daily.
Pilots use their skills daily.
Doctors are not reexamined on a regular basis.
Pilots are.

There is one thing that is seemingly ignored by almost everyone in this discussion: the fact that Aviation is not what it was until about 30 years ago. It will never be the same again.

There was a time when flying was for the few. Most pilots came through the military, they learned to fly during the war(s). They were Officers and Gentlemen. The rest were wealthy enough to pay for civilian training. They still had to pay their dues but if they made it they were well regarded.

None of them would ever have considered paying to work, expecting to be kicked out when they were no longer "useful" (able to pay). They entered airlines to have careers which they were allowed to have because there was no other business model. There was a relatively small customer base, therefore a small number of airlines which could all survive without stepping on each other's toes.

There was only one sort of passenger: of a certain class, social standing and wealth. Relatively few people could afford to fly. Everybody else took the boat.

This is why Pilots were highly regarded and respected. They were skilled. Cabin Crew (female) were chosen for their looks and education. They were expected to meet a suitable husband amongst their passengers (see above).

The situation today is very different. Everybody can now buy a cheap ticket to some crap holiday destination with too much luggage and too much exposed, unsightly flesh. The airlines cash in on this business model, as they would be expected to do as businesses.

They are forced to find as many pilots as possible as quickly as possible, failing that as cheaply as possible.

I have seen some of the best pilots and some of the worst in small commuter airlines. I am willing to bet that it is the same in bigger airlines.

Not that glamour is the most important thing but, nevertheless, it has gone. The travelling public cares only for the ticket price. "I've got rights, me". Discovery Channel makes it easy for everyone to know what the pilots "should of done, he screwed it up, innit?" "Airplanes are so easy to fly, there's no skill required. Maybe a bit of FlightSim, that's all."

Some of you will be upset and will tell me that I can't say these things. I can because this is my point of view. We as humans have changed this industry and we have changed it for the worse. It will not return to what it was. This is why all of us need to enter into this with open eyes and a bit of understanding for why it is how it is.

No point in bleating about it. It has become a fairly ****ty, cut-throat business where many will be fleeced and discarded. It could be you, get used to it. Question things more and don't be afraid to tell people to get lost with their fancy ideas and promises if you don't agree with them.

FWIW you'll get no argument from me; good post.

Blueplume,

A very well-presented argument. Just a couple of points I would query though:

The first relatively cheap package holidays available to the common masses started in the late fifties and early sixties, with the Costa Brava being the destination of choice to impress your neighbours with your orange glow. So the scenario you are describing, is more like 50 years ago, and I’m sure you’ll agree that absolutely nothing is what it was 50 years ago.

The opening comment regarding the comparison with doctors, is in reference, I believe, to a remark made by ‘waco’, which in turn was a response to the following, posted by Prof. Rubik:

“If a junior doctor had the option to pay to bypass all of the years working nights in an A&E for low money and go straight in as a surgeon I bet they would do”.

…. the inference being that an FTO graduate is able to pay his way straight into the captain’s seat, which we all know is not the case (yet). There’s a hell of a difference between a surgeon and an FO, both in terms of remuneration and status. Spending years working nights in an A&E for low money with the hospital registrar on call if things get a bit sticky, is not that dissimilar to what the new crop of contract FOs are currently experiencing. As for the fact that doctors are not re-examined on a regular basis, well that’s true. But they are examined on an irregular basis if they make an incorrect decision which results in someone’s death, and which could result in them being ‘struck-off’. The main difference, however, is that the screw-up of an individual doctor is not likely to result in the demise of a few hundred people, and the associated aftermath of such an occurrence.

You're right, it is about 50 years ago that this started in a small way. But I would say that this was not the main attack, that happened later.

Pilots are very definitely "examined" if they make an incorrect decision which results in someone’s death (whether or not the pilots survive). And they can be "struck off" too. Doctors rarely die if they kill their patients.

You tried burying someone recently?
HAROLD SHIPMAN.....OK, an extreme case , but the rules, regulations and procedures that have been put in place are mind-boggling. Basically, it's all about being absoloutely certain that the deceased died through natural of fully understood causes (that's why cremation can be even more difficult, as the "evidence" is destroyed irrevocably.

AF447 is arguably a result of a crew who were ill-trained and perhaps not "naturals" at the job and relatively inexperienced on type...see previous posters comments on Hamble /selection.

The cynic in me , says the Actuaries (Insurance bean-counters) KNOW the situation, run the figures and are quite content to sit back and watch the profits mount,whilst paying out the factored-in claims.

The sad truth is, this is no longer an elitist PROFESSION......It's a Public Transport job.....Any Oik with the resources and a modicum of fitness and intelligence can become a jet-jockey.

Unless the selection-process becomes extremely selective and the passenger-demographic reverts to the well-heeled and the number of aeroplanes plying for trade reduces dramatically, things WILL get worse.

the above scenario just isn't going to happen in our lifetimes....maybe in a couple of centuries when fuel stocks become precious.....meanwhile, as a previous poster alluded......flying, to the average punter, is a glorified coach-trip with wings.

Too many personnel chasing too few jobs,,it won't right itself and the boom to soak up the surplus, -well, it ain't happening for a loooooong time!