You've missed the point entirely. I highlighted your primary point so I can pick it apart and show you how it doesn't apply.
Nah, just a difference of opinion!
"Yes, he is military" - First point. He's already trained to be highly disciplined, adhere to procedure, and is closely monitored by peers who do not accept slipping standard.
I have met as many undisciplined soldiers as highly disciplined soldiers. Most of the former would not make it past the selection process to become a pilot, so again I refer to the selection process.
"with a superior training program" - Civilian training programs are dictated by cost. Military training programs are dictated by the end product they produce.
I agree. While some change is in the air, current programs could be modeled better to produce a better product. As far as cost is concerned, which will be less - a high quality compact training program, say 300 hours to ATP standards or a normal 250 hour commercial training program with 1250 of extra time bought (and you know that will happen!)?
"and selection program" That 'cost effective' civilian training program? It's available to anybody able to write a check with a sufficient number of digits on it. How do you separate the wheat from the chaff in the training process? You can't even do it with examiners- many schools have staff examiners who have incentives to pass license applicants. They may not come out and just say such things, but they do.
Many regionals already have a more difficult selection process than others, including written tests similar to the ATP written, cognitive speed tests, one-on-one or panel knowledge reviews and full motion sim rides. This selection process is in place to weed out those who might have made it past the aforementioned corrupt examiners.
"the 1500 hour rule is irrelevant." Not in this case. Given that the non-military, non-superior training program that has absolutely no limiting selection criteria is what currently feeds the pool of airline applicants, SOMETHING must set a minimum standard.
Forgive me for stating my opinion as fact - while I view 1500 hours as arbitrary, that is merely my opinion. I think that putting better training programs in place and standardizing a strict selection process would be more cost effective and produce a better product than using a 1500 hour benchmark. The term 'frozen ATP' is being tossed out a lot recently and I am personally highly in favor of that notion.
That 1500 mark becomes important in that regard. By not letting someone who has slipped through the gaping holes in the training and selection process sit in an airline cockpit until they've had a year or two to prove their mettle in the real world, you induce a selection process.
In other words, those not actually serious about treating professional piloting as a discipline will not either a) not make it that far or b) pursue other things that interest them more.
There will be people who slip through the gaps at 300 hours or 1500 hours. When I typed on the LR-Jet, my sim partner was a guy with 3000 hours of mostly banner towing and he couldn't handle the sim for the SIC type and had to retake the check-ride twice.
In other words, friend, comparing your military trained kin to the pilots coming out of civilian pilot puppy mills is purely apples to oranges.
Back to my original opinion, I believe that a superior initial training program (possibly frozen ATP) and a strict selection process would be more beneficial and less costly than imposing a 1500 hour minimum. I agree these do not exist in our current puppy mills, however, it is already being done with our military, Europe and elsewhere abroad so it is possible to implement.
My worthless opinion in length, carry on!!
