The dramatic need for pilots` dictates flight time requirements - Colgan Air, move over.... Curt Lewis

 

Advisory Panel Would Relax Rules for Co-Pilot Experience

A proposal is likely to rekindle long-running safety debate about mandatory flying hours

An American Airlines fleet training manager at the controls of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner over New York. A Federal Aviation Administration advisory panel is moving toward recommending the U.S. relax minimum-flight-time requirements for new pilots. 

By ANDY PASZTOR

U.S. airlines would be able to hire new pilots with far less cockpit experience than

Certain military pilots with as little as 500 hours of flying experience would be allowed to become commercial co-pilots, according to people familiar with the details, compared with the mandatory at least 750 hours required today. That is already down sharply from the minimum of 1,500 hours set for typical non-military pilots in 2013.

The proposal comes from a joint industry-labor group created by the Federal Aviation Administration to help it draft new regulations amid worries by the airline industry that there aren't enough pilots to keep up with demand. None of the recommendations have been released, and further details are expected to remain confidential until top FAA officials decide how to proceed.

Co-pilots, who are sometimes called first officers, without a military background or an academic degree related to aviation would still need at least 1,500 hours of total flight time to be eligible to be hired by carriers, said the people familiar with the panel's proposals. The committee, which includes representatives of pilots, airlines and passengers, didn't recommend any changes for requirements to fly as a captain. Captains need 1,500 hours among other requirements, but airlines usually require more flight time for them than federal minimums.

The proposals reflect escalating pressures many commuter carriers face in attracting and keeping enough pilots under existing regulations. Despite increased salaries and the introduction of signing and retention bonuses at some carriers, commuter airlines remain particularly vulnerable to pilot staffing shortfalls.

Some commuter operations worry they aren't attracting the overall quality of applicants they would like, while others fret about the impact of larger carriers hiring away commuter pilots with incentives that include higher pay and more-secure career advancement prospects. Larger U.S. airlines, meanwhile, confront their own staffing issues with the impending retirements of tens of thousands of senior pilots over the next decade.