Whacker77

The language seems pretty clear that an ATP will be required three years after the bill is signed into law. Therefore, if there is hiring in the somewhat near future, applicants could be hired without an ATP as long as it takes place before the three year period expires.

As for the Senate, I thought I read somewhere on the site their bill did not include a 1500/ATP rule. That would mean the bill would go to conference, have the differences ironed out, and then go before both chambers for a final vote.

Don't look for the Senate to toughen the bill either. I know it's taken as gospel here the 1500/ATP is the key to higher pay and automatic safety, but I think the regional industry will work to exclude the 1500 hour rule because it would artificially limit their ability to hire in some circumstances. It will likely be six months or more before this bill comes up for a final vote.

DryMotorBoatin

If this is what the general public wants, this is what the general public gets. But I feel that this should also come with much higher ticket prices. If a pilot out of flight school is now going to have to instruct for 3 years at $15k a year then it has to be for a job worth more than $20k a year. If they want more experienced pilots then they are going to have to pay for it. 3 years of instructing is along time to live on ramen workin 7 days a week.

iPilot

I think the public is ok with paying more to have an experienced crew on board. We can't expect every day folks to know as much about aviation as we do. Its like being asked to study electrical engineering to pick out a cell phone. The reason we have regulators in place is so the public can rest assured that the airline they are flying is safe, which includes a reasonably experienced crew.

After the Colgan crash people were shocked to learn about what pilots are paid, everyone just assumed things were working fine behind the scenes. However now that the cat has been let out of the bag the public has spoken, through representation, and now tighter standards are going to be imposed. Some will be better for us, some may be worse, but in the end something is being done about it.

In conclusion, we shouldn't blame the passengers for our current situation. We should blame ourselves, the aviation industry.

nordo

How about ALPA pushing through an amendment to dump the RLA as part of this bill and let us be like every other Union?

Time to quit dreaming before the drug test me for having such fanciful thoughts.

WmuGrad07

I don't seem to think this is such a big deal. 3-4 years ago it seemed like mins were 1000/100, and everyone knew they were going to have to instruct a while or do some time building before they could get into an airline. Another 500 hrs isn't the end of the world.

I can say that 2 years ago I wished I could be flying 121 with a wet com me ticket. However I can definitely say that I have learned more about being pic in small planes that I would have with a captain hold my hand right after I let go of my instructors.

I don't really want to get myself going about this. I don't see this as a bad thing or a big deal. It's just another thing we've got to do if we want to be an airline pilot. I do think the pay scales should go up with this in effect though!!

yamag7d8

i agree that minimums to get in an airline is a good idea. 1000/100 sounds reasonable as well as 1500 hrs, but that 500hr x-c time is going to be hard getting being a flight instructor. all my students are brand new learning how to fly airplanes so we're not going to do x-c's anytime soon

utedrummer

Its easy to get, in regards to ATP no landing is required. Take a gps out, make a mental note of 50 NM out and make sure during your maneuvers you reach that point before you turn around and go home. student cant log it as x-c, but for the purpose of an ATP you sure can!

3GreenKSNA

In one year of flight instruction at one of the mills, I managed to rack up only about 120 hours of cross country. I currently have 1300 hours and 270 hours of cross country, the only hope of getting the time is getting a cargo job.

AirWillie

That's a pretty big ripoff for the student.

FlyJSH

How so? Is a maneuver less valuable when it is flown linearly than when it is flown inside a 3 mile box?

Admittedly some lessons do not lend themselves to the 50 fix xc (ground reference maneuvers for example). But a series of stalls followed by a drag/Vmc demo would not cost the student an extra dime.

Besides, if the school is at a class C airport, 10 of the 50 miles is spent just getting clear of the airspace.