Air Force to UAL New Hire

[Jack Campbell]

You seem awfully defensive...
Do you consider yourself to be included in "so many folks"?

You sound like one of those guys who needs to put words in others' mouths to make yourself seem superior. :laugh:

 

[Dan Roman]

You sound like one of those guys who needs to put words in others' mouths to make yourself seem superior. :laugh:

You point was clear to me and I'm sure most. It's spot on that equally competent pilots come from all kinds of backgrounds. Someone who thinks they are better invariably turns out to be amongst the weakest.

 

[Dan Roman]

Dan Southwest is known to taxi fast because quick turnarounds are essential to their business model. They average something like 32 minutes while United was doing 40 minutes for a guppy and even longer for an A-320. The overruns at Burbank and Midway were for the same reasons. They were in a hurry.

Not saying this is true or not, but food for thought. A culture that encourages rushing is not a healthy one in our line of work. You brought up Burbank and Midway, now Branson and LGA? Couple that with hiring primarily from a single demographic, Military, and SWA misses the benefit of having RJ pilots with extensive experience operating out of high density and low density airports all over the US.
You might not want to dismiss Waves point of view so easily, SWA could be setting itself up for a situation similar to what DAL went through in the 80's.

 

[AirCobra]

(BTW F4 F111 etc you mentioned is still a single pilot operation)

Yeah but its a crew just the same. One can't do the mission without the other.

 

[Mamma]

Dan,
First, I'm betting you have no idea on the numbers of ex-fighter pilots at SWA. Second, I'll bet you do t know the background of the pilots in the accidents you mentioned. Third, most captains spend years in the right seat operating into all sorts of airports. Fourth, you have to look at each case individually if you are going to call out a specific background as contributory to an accident. Was it an ex fighter guy? How long had he/she been at SWA, and what are the circumstances. Comparing SWA of today with DAL of the 80s is ridiculous. I've never flown with an ex-fighter FO but the captains I've flown with, at 2 major airlines have all been great. I never said civi pilots were bad and I don't buy the argument that ex mil guys cause an unhealthy environment.

 

[Mamma]

Dan,
First, I'm betting you have no idea on the numbers of ex-fighter pilots at SWA. Second, I'll bet you do t know the background of the pilots in the accidents you mentioned. Third, most captains spend years in the right seat operating into all sorts of airports. Fourth, you have to look at each case individually if you are going to call out a specific background as contributory to an accident. Was it an ex fighter guy? How long had he/she been at SWA, and what are the circumstances. Comparing SWA of today with DAL of the 80s is ridiculous. I've never flown with an ex-fighter FO but the captains I've flown with, at 2 major airlines have all been great. I never said civi pilots were bad and I don't buy the argument that ex mil guys cause an unhealthy environment.

 

[AirCobra]

Not saying this is true or not, but food for thought. A culture that encourages rushing is not a healthy one in our line of work. You brought up Burbank and Midway, now Branson and LGA? Couple that with hiring primarily from a single demographic, Military, and SWA misses the benefit of having RJ pilots with extensive experience operating out of high density and low density airports all over the US.
You might not want to dismiss Waves point of view so easily, SWA could be setting itself up for a situation similar to what DAL went through in the 80's.

Yeah but Wave is only talking about one class and making it sound like it a regular practice by SWA. Civilian only pilots at SWA still outnumber military pilots by 10%.

While SWA has had some incidents, and the fatality at MDW, their safety record has been outstanding, especially considering all the takeoffs and landings they do. Would you then credit that to all the military pilots they hired? It is pretty easy to dismiss Wave point because his opinion is so colored with bias. Anyone could easily turn those stats on their head because of Southwest's exemplary safety record.

 

[AirCobra]

So true but now the DAL new hires look like the new hires at UAL 15 years ago. You have to look at FedEx now for dumb accidents caused by MilOnly pilots.

The Fed Ex accidents in 1997 and 2009 were caused by a difficult airplane to land in a cross wind (MD-11). Neither had anything to do with military or civilian pilots. I will also add that if Fed Ex hired a military only fighter pilot he likely spent a good amount of time as an FE learning the ropes.

 

[AirCobra]

A civilian pilot with a proven training record is also a known quantity. Multiple type ratings, dozens of Part 135 and Part 121 training events and thousands of hours of experience should level the playing field, but it seems there is still the notion on this board the mil guy is superior. Doesn't make sense. There are a lot of very qualified, safe civ pilots vying for top jobs and any airline that doesn't give them serious consideration is ignoring a strong talent base.

No the notion is that military training is superior because in most cases its more structured, more consistent, and has a more rigorous selection and attrition component. That is all that is being said.

Everything else you have read is pretty much the bias of a few people and includes military pilots can't taxi, SWA hires all military pilots, military pilots are selected by back room deals, and fighter pilots can never learn to operate in a crew environment. That stuff is all made up.

No military pilots said that civilian pilots were untalented. All that was said is military guys received better training. Anyone who has done both will tell you that.

 

[waveflyer]

Disclaimer: Regional Civilian guy

The Military guy is and always has been a known quantity who was able to complete training on schedule under duress. They complete missions where the flying part is secondary to other high workload tasks. With CRM school at the airlines these days the transition for a military guy should be low threat. Suggesting that a military guy start at a regional is ridiculous. That being said we all know idiots from every background

I'm not saying "start" at a regional

But go get a year or two of 121 experience first so they aren't "learning on the job" while pissing on their civilian counterparts?

Yes. Absolutely

The best of us are exactly that- the military pilot who also went to the regionals. I've yet to meet one of them that pisses on civilian experience