Pilot Certification and Qualification Requirements for Air Carrier Operations

In August of 2010, President Obama Signed  The Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Act of 2010, after a Colgan Air flight crashed in upstate New York killing everyone in the plane and one person on the ground. The law has increased pilot flight times and training requirements in an attempt to make the airways a safer place, but how did does the law actually affect the industry and does it really serve its intended purpose or is it merely a reactive law designed to show a good face to the public?

According the Federal Register in order for a pilot to fly for a regional airline now, they must comply with all of the previous requirements, a commercial license and 250 flight hours, and must now have 1500 hours of flight time and an ATP; they must be 23 years of age and have 50 hours of multi engine time in their class. Previously pilots were only required to have 1500 hours and with no multi engine time.  However, if you have gone to an accredited college and obtained bachelors or associates’ degree with an aviation focus you can obtain a restricted privilege ATP certificate. This certificate allows pilots with only 1000 hours to operate as second in command; while this is a nice privilege for students I’m not sure that an academic background ensures better pilot ability over those without an academic background.

Further changes that were made will also have an impact on colleges as they will now have to hold a letter of authorization. If at any time the FAA feels that the school is unable to carry out the expected standard then the letter can be revoked. Colleges were not held to this standard before which ensured that the student’s degree would be worth their time; however students attending a college whose letter of authorization is revoked would lose their qualification for the restricted privilege certification. The letter of authorization, then, has a huge affect on both the college and the student in the case that it is revoked hinders the student and can hurt a college’s academic credibility.

Some may deem it reasonable to assume that higher training requirements would produce better pilots and it may, however it is my opinion that it will not have that great of an effect on the pilots ability, and it will hinder the industry as a whole. Pilots look forward to the day that they can get paid to build flight hours instead of paying to build flight hours, by extending this and putting the financial burden on the pilots it could potentially hinder moral and passion in the lower ranks and those looking to enter the regional airlines. The Coalition of Airline Pilots Association seem to be in support of the extended requirements based on the fact that the positions use to be given to individuals who held experience in excess to the ATP regulations and now because of the economic turn the jobs pay much less and have driven away more experienced pilots. While this is true I believe that it is difficult to expect pilots to go into further debt and seek higher levels of experience for the amount of compensation that can be earned at another job requiring little to no experience at all. The director for the National Association of Flight Instructors, Jason Blair believes that it will decrease “pilot motivation for career pursuit.” Which I believe hits the nail on the head. Pilots who have been working towards that 250 hour mark and hoping to land a job are now being forced to gain six times the amount of hours. It is my belief that pilots will simply find something else to do.

While the new requirement places a large burden on pilots, it also put a big burden on the airlines, an article on mondaq.com mentions the to do list that it created for airlines that had to be completed before the August 2^nd,  2013 deadline. Air carriers were required to make sure that all pilots holding 2^nd class medicals were issued 1^st class certificates, the pilots that had less than the newly required flight hours had to be brought up to the new standard and make sure that their regional sections were in compliance as well.

I do not argue that safety is not important and new ways of procuring safe airways should not be researched, however I believe that the new ATP requirements were made out of haste and that little to no consideration for its affect on the airline industry or its pilots was made.

huerta, M. (2013, 7 10). Pilot certification and qualification requirements for air carrier operations. Retrieved from https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/07/15/2013-16849/pilot-certification-and-qualification-requirements-for-air-carrier-operations

Kuwitzky, C. (2012, 4 30). capa comments on the "pilot certification and qualification requirements nprm . Retrieved from http://www.capapilots.org/capa-comment-on-the-pilot-certification-and-qualification-requirements

The global impact of the faa nprm regarding pilot certification and qualification requirements for air carrier operations (u.s.). (2012, 3 21). Retrieved from http://www.iaftp.org/2012/03/the-global-impact-of-the-faa-nprm-regarding-pilot-certification-and-qualification-requirements-for-air-carrier-operations-u-s/

Jerman, T., & Macpherson, R. (2013, 4 22). United states: Pending deadline for airline transport pilot certificates may place u.s. carriers in a lurch. Retrieved from http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/234736/Aviation/Pending Deadline For Airline Transport Pilot Certificates May