First Officer School

An airline pilot pointed out an ad in a major aviation publication. It worries me. A flight training school advertises a "First Officer Program" that includes "Over 250 hours of actual FAR Part 121 turboprop passenger airline First Officer experience." Now, I could be wrong, but that sounds to me like flying the line with real, paying pax in the back. That raises a few questions, at least in my mind. Doesn’t that mean that the student would be paying to fly for an airline? Will these pilots really be qualified to fly as first officers, or are they just learning? Is this a sign of things to come? If this is a trend, how far will it go? As mentioned herein before, I have always believed that those years of first-officer experience were a major factor in the almost unbelievable safety record of the airlines. Now, it seems that first-officer training is shorter and first officers move up to the left seat much faster. Where are we going with this? Should we worry about it? Change of subject… The Wall Street Journal announced today (November 7, 2006) that FedEx has canceled orders for 10 Airbus 380s and ordered 15 Boeing 777s instead (with an option for 15 more). Scuttlebutt (not the WSJ) has it that FedEx’s Fred Smith huffed out of a European meeting with Airbus officials and flew straight to Chicago to do business with Boeing. Although that scuttlebutt came from a good source, I can’t swear it's true. One thing does seem chiseled in granite: Lots of folks are unhappy with the Airbus 380, and it hasn’t even been delivered yet. In fact, most of the complaints revolve around late deliveries and—recently—weight gain. The aviation industry often seems to move at a snail’s pace, but lately it has changed at a fast and furious pace. We’d love to post your comments. Please click the comment box at the top.