Alpa Male wrote: ↑Thu Feb 21, 2019 1:22 pm
av8ts wrote: ↑Thu Feb 21, 2019 11:02 am
If they are qualified, why not?
1500 hours and an ATPL makes you "qualified"? Sorry, you're not qualified. Give your head a shake. It's that kind of arrogance and entitlement that led me to say, "you're f*cking this airline into the ground". Saving face and honouring "seniority" comes before any semblance of common sense.
I think that making a broad based assessment of "qualified" based solely on a number is a dangerous way to view a pilot. I have known many 5000+hr pilots who have half the proficiency / talent as a pilot with less than 1000hrs! While I agree that there needs to be familiarity with an operation, what difference does it make to have an FO from a Q400 be an FO on 737? There is still a proficient and experienced pilot in the left seat that should be able to effectively mentor the new FO. That FO holds an ATPL and has gained enough experience / passed tests to be there. So why does the type make a difference?
Would you say that a 1500hr CF-18 pilot, intercepting a Russian bear in the high arctic isn't "qualified" to operate a single seat fighter?
I would argue that the truth of the matter is that there is a lot of hand-holding in a multi-crew cockpit and while there are situations the FO will not have seen, simply barring someone from position based on a number seems to be short sighted.
I get it... It's not how the industry used to be and plenty of people had to slug it out for years, and thousands of hours, before they got to see a jet cockpit. That's not how it is anymore and this pisses off a lot of people, and I continually hear moaning from others that all starts with "When I was a new FO..."
Having an FO from Encore bid on and get an FO position at Swoop shows the desire for advancement and that probably comes with initiative and drive. The industry will eventually beat that out of them, but why are you trying so hard to do it first?