Licensed to fly but not up to the job

摘要

The European Aviation Safety Agency is working with airlines on a pilot training course that leads to an enhanced qualification. This is being done because the present system produces pilots with licences that make them legally qualified to fly, but half of whom - according to the airlines - are not good enough. The relatively new Multi-crew Pilot Licence (MPL) course was designed specifically to meet airlines' need for flightdeck-ready co-pilots, but the requirement for an airline to commit to an MPL student early in the course - and vice versa - put many airlines off the idea. It also produced "white-tail" co-pilots if the sponsor airline's recruiting plans took a hit from a business downturn at any time during the course, right up to licence award. Such MPL anomalies are being fixed, but in the meantime the industry is looking for another way of producing right-hand-seat-ready co-pilots without ties or limitations binding either party. The new European Airline Pilot Certificate (APC) course looks as if it might be an answer.