Airline industry officials are trying to water down a safety measure in a law passed this summer by Congress that calls for airline co-pilots to have at least 1,500 hours of flying experience, the same as required of captains, the Associated Press reports.
The push for rules easing the experience requirement is coming from a Federal Aviation Administration advisory panel dominated by airlines, companies that employ pilots to fly corporate planes and university flight schools. According to officials familiar with the panel’s deliberations, industry representatives are worried that the 1,500-hour requirement would put a premium on experience that, in turn, would force them to pay pilots more in salary and benefits.
Industry groups and FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt, a former airline pilot, have argued that improving the quality of pilot training is more important than increasing the minimum level of flying experience.
The advisory panel wants the minimum flight hours requirement reduced by two-thirds, to 500 hours. It would take advantage of a provision in the law allowing the FAA administrator to let academic training courses substitute for flight hours. Even with that change, however, the requirement would double the current minimum of 250 hours of flying experience.
The aviation safety law passed in July was prompted by the February, 2009, crash of a commuter plane near Buffalo, NY., that killed 50 people. A National Transportation Safety Board investigation faulted the pilots and found deficiencies in pilot hiring and training by Colgan Air, the regional carrier operating the flight for Continental.
Lawmakers who proposed the 1,500-hour flight experience rule, AP reports, hoped that the measure would do exactly what the industry is trying to avoid — raising pilot salaries.
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Jill,
Thank you for your insightful analysis and not being afraid to state the obvious.
There is no substitute for experience. Reducing the minimums to 500 hours is a great disservice to the traveling public. The ones screaming are the colleges with their 250 hour wonder pilot programs and the airlines who want to have as broad a hiring pool as possible to allow them to keep wages way low for new hires. I’m not a fan of Schumer but this time he has got it right-1,500 to sit in the right seat of an airliner. There are still opportunities for the college grads as freight dogs-flying cargo around the country. Cargo doesn’t die when you make a mistake.
Tigerpilot, the problem is that the jobs we all got into the industry with – instructing, corporate, night freight – just aren’t there. Retired airline pilots who lost their pensions are flying corporate to make ends meet. Instructing jobs went away because nobody can afford flight training anymore. Electronic check transmissions slashed demand for night freight. It’s a heck of a conundrum.. How does a young pilot go about getting the 1500 hours? Just going out and renting a plane at 150 – 300 bucks an hour isn’t feasable when the starting pay at an airline is considerably less than $20,000 a year.
There aren’t any jobs out there that let a doctor become a doctor without investing in med school. As a result of the investment, doctors get paid well once they finish their training.
Once there are not enough qualified pilots to fill the jobs, the jobs will have to pay more to pull in the pilots who do have the experience. The pay would rise from the current $20,000 to multiples of that. The next thing will be the equivalent of med school that provide the would-be-airline-pilot with 1500 hours. From a pilot’s point of view, that is a good thing. From a commuter airline’s point of view, not a good thing.
yea, right.. I agree with “cubflyer” even tho airline would start paying 100K for the first year.. how you gonna pay for training to get 1500 hours ???
250 hours at lewis university in Chicago with BA of Aviation Science (lets assume we study that way) cost is over 160K !!!! do you people understant that or not ??
OK now 1500 hours + average $220/h equals = $330,000.00 HELLOW.. now you make your supid 100K a year and what is that for ? Flight Dispatcher is able make more seating at office on the groud and training cost only 6K
do you think only young pilots crashes ? how many people after 5000 hours driving a car crash and die ? and of course everyone knows how to drive a car..
rising hours will not solve a problem.. and who will pay ? yea of course, we all – passengers.. because cost of driving from chicago to torronto one way is $75 and flying up to $500.. yea very economical..
yea.. how much cost do become a doctor and how expensive is to get “type rating” when you pay over 5K per hour !!
sure.. and when you go to doctor people die anyway.. blah blah blah..