With its roots originating from the families killed in the Colgan Air/Continental Express flight #3407 crash in Buffalo, NY on February 12, 2009, The Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Act of 2010 aims at improving the training and increasing the requirements for an airplane transport pilot. According to 3407memorial.com, key sections of the law include increasing the minimum number of hours one must have prior to obtaining an ATP license, annual reporting to the Transportation and Infrastructure/Commerce Committees on the status of all NTSB safety recommendations, and the accurate record keeping of airline records. This law will also require a change in the certification process of crew members, resulting in the need for a First Officer of a Part 121 Air Carrier to hold an Airline Transport Pilot certificate.
One potential effect that this law can have on my career is the extended length of time it will take me to become a First Officer. Even though my career is not focused entirely on becoming a pilot with the major airlines (Delta, American, etc), it will increase the difficulty in completing the necessary ratings that I wish to obtain. The point in question is the requirement of a First Officer to hold an ATP certificate. This now requires a minimum of 1500 flight hours. With the increase in flight time, this will mean an increase in the amount of money spent obtaining these hours. The way the national economy currently is will be a huge factor in how I (and other flight students) will go about generating the funds necessary for this extension. Flight schools, such as the Part 141 here at EMU, will benefit greatly from this new law. This will lead to an increase in profit since its students will be required to spend more money on their training. Once the students become properly rated, these hours will need to build. If the schools have rental aircraft, they will see an increase in use (proportionally to the increase in the demand for the aircraft), therefore allowing their profits to rise.
The first and most important benefit will be the increase in profits for these flight schools. There will be a new demand and they will supply the necessary aircraft. Rates will rise, hours will rise, and the flight schools will see their income rise as well. Another benefit is the fact that there will be a new increase in the amount of people flying. With the extension, it will keep more people in the air. More people will be able to enjoy flying and learn more in the process. This will allow the pilots to learn more about the world of flying, which is the ultimate goal in creating more experienced pilots prior to entrusting them with the lives of paying passengers. A challenge will be jus the opposite, and that is actually keeping the pilots in the air. They must find a way to fund their flight hours and if they lose interest or get too far in debt, they will may choose a different career path.
I feel that the changes addressed do have a good goal. The intention is to allow pilots to learn more about flight prior to them flying passengers. But I feel that the bar has been raised too high. The extension of hours is too high and I feel that it is (secretly) a way for the government to generate more of an economic difference rather than safety influence. With that being said, the pilots that focus on their hours and building the required experience will be highly qualified individuals when they FINALLY get behind the controls of a Part 121 aircraft.
This is interesting about increasing profits for the flight schools, because just a couple posts back, I was reading a post that said this law will cause more student dropouts. I think the main effect for flight schools will be an increasing oversupply of flight instructors trying to build 1,000 or more hours.
ReplyDelete"there will be a new increase in the amount of people flying"...based on what? I have read a lot of articles claiming a "pilot shortage", but I have yet to read anything that states that more people are becoming interested in flying. Miqrogroove - I think the increase in student dropouts is a high possibility if the pay at the regionals and majors doesn't increase. How can students afford more time at a lower wage and repay their training costs when they can barely make ends meet under the current situation?
ReplyDeleteWord on the street is that wages will be going up at the regionals. There's just no way they can attract 1,500+ hr first officers on the existing pay scale and still be competitive with non-121 operators.
DeleteI agree with Rob, I think their will be a higher rate of dropout flight students because of this. Flight training is already extremely expensive in the first place, therefor only being for those who are better off financially. This will even further narrow the amount of people who can actually afford upwards of tens of thousands of dollars for it.
ReplyDeleteEspecially if the regionals do not give pay increases then pilots with 1,500 hours might as well go straight to the major. Therefore the regionals won't have nearly enough pilots to continue their operations. Additionally, with a surplus on CFI's and a high student dropout rate due to cost, there can be a problem with CFI's getting enough flight time to keep above water paying back training costs. If there aren't enough students how can flight instructors get 1,500 hours? This is a very interesting situation that the airlines have been put in to say the least.
ReplyDeleteAviation is becomes more technologically advanced every year. Pilots are better trained, and the equipment and maintenance that is used is outstanding comparable to what has been used in the past. Yet with all of these new and advanced technologies people demand that pilots have more hours to fly. The basis rule making comes from the citizens. Look if we put rules into place every time a accident happens eventually we wont be able to fly. If we made new rules every time there was a car crash we would not get a drivers licenses until we are 30. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t implement new rules but in this case making pilots have a ATP and 1500hours rather then 800 is going to change nothing.
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to remember that this legislation is aimed at protecting us from the bottom feeder regional carriers such as Colgan (now defunct) and GoJet (growing). Pinnacle could end up on this list after Delta has their way in Pinnacle's reorganization. Colgan did not have their house in order prior to 3407. They played cheap and bent the rules with recruiting and training. This legislation sets hard rules for getting into the right seat. Prior to this, the hours and training requirements were only as good as the carrier applying them. It does not solve the question of being qualified but it is better than 250 and a commercial.
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