Two decades ago....most all airline pilots were former Navy or AF pilots, and paid at a sufficient level for their work. I’ve come to note over the past decade that we’ve gone to the cheapest way possible of getting airline pilots. A guy gets his license and thinks ‘big’ on the job....then six weeks later begins to realize that he’s overworked, and lacks the depth of experience that used to exist as the norm.
We all want cheap travel now, and this is the result of that desire.
That sounds great, except for one thing: airline travel is **much** safer now than it was twenty years ago. If you look at fatal accidents over the decades, prior to about the year 2000, US airlines saw about 1-2 "hull-loss" accidents involving mainline jet aircraft per year. Of course 2001 was a terrible year, with the 9/11 attacks and the American A-300 going down in New York a few months later.
But that A-300 went down over 12 years ago, and there has not been a *single* American hull-loss accident by a mainline air carrier since then - and there have only been 3 such accidents involving commuter airlines during that time, which is also a dramatic improvement over the 80s and 90s.
Yeah, these guys screwed up. It can still happen, and this could have been a catastrophe. But it wasn't, and catastrophes have become incredibly rare while airline travel has become incredibly safe.
“I’ve come to note over the past decade that we’ve gone to the cheapest way possible of getting airline pilots.”
Well, just be glad they aren’t hiring Koreans. I read a piece by a retired UAL Captain who went to work in Korea training for both KAL and later Asiana. He says that most of them can’t actually hand fly the aircraft. The Asiana crash at SF makes that crystal clear. I would never fly an Asian airline under any circumstances.
You're right about that, though the government reacted to the Colgan crash by upping the minimum hours requirement to 1,500 hours for airlines like Southwest. So now new pilots have to work for slave wages even longer to make it to the majors.
Chances are pretty good the pilot involved had 4,000 hours in type, at least. Southwest only has 737's, so it's not likely this was a crew unfamiliar with the aircraft. And they get lots of landings, since the range is limited. There was an available instrument approach to help identify they were landing at the right airport -- no excuses for them.
You have it exactly correct. We have the same situation with the truck profession. It is a crime what is expected of truckers. Impossibly long hours every day for far too little pay.
And yet the US carriers are safer than they’ve ever been. How to explain that with the level of incompetence in today’s cockpits? /s/
“most all airline pilots were former Navy or AF pilots, and paid at a sufficient level for their work”
Soooo true! I am a Navy jet pilot (O-5) who is current as an instructor in the T-45. I can’t get hired by the airlines. The HR folks have taken over the hiring part for the airlines and it is so touchy feely, guys like me have difficulty passing the strange psych tests (at least that is what I figure I am doing wrong).
As a matter of fact, I have been trying to retire the past six months, but I can’t get hired by anyone. Walmart corporate called, but I have to start out as a cashier.....too funny.....I have a USNA degree and an MBA, but the job market is so terrible, Walmart is the only callback out of 50 applications.
And with ObamaCare, it'll become the same way with medical professionals.