Australian Proposal Similar To One Under Consideration By The U.S. Congress

Australia-based Regional Express (Rex) is concerned over recent suggestions requiring all pilots engaged in airline operations in Australia to have a minimum of 1500 hours flying time as suggested in a current Australian Senate inquiry into pilot training.

The move follows a similar proposal in the United States, which the Australian regional airline calls a "knee jerk reaction" to a fatal airline accident. It points out that that accident involved two experienced pilots with well over 2000 hours of flight experience each.

 Like many major airlines around the world, Rex runs a cadet program specifically designed to produce high quality pilots. Results from comprehensive simulator and aircraft proficiency tests have conclusively proven that cadets in their first year of flying demonstrate equal skills in all aspects tested. In their second year of flying their performance surpasses the more experienced direct intake pilots with over 1500 hours at point of entry.

“There is absolutely no scientific basis that a pilot with less than 1500 hours would be unsafe," said Rex Managing Director Jim Davis. "If that were the case, the RAAF would not be entrusting our sophisticated fighter jets to pilots with less than 500 hours of flight experience. In fact European and Australian authorities have officially approved training programs that allow pilots to fly large jet aircraft with less than 100 hours of direct flight experience."

"A minimum requirement of 1500 hours for airline pilots would be an absolute disaster," he continued. "It would mean the end of all pilot cadet programs in Australia and make it impossible for airlines to source enough pilots to cope with planned future expansion. This would have a disastrous effect amongst small and regional operators as their pilot ranks would get plundered by the larger airlines as we saw in FY08, when Rex lost half its pilots to the major airlines in one year. To stay in operation, the smaller operators would have no choice but to accept pilots from General Aviation with sufficient minimum hours but who may not have the desired skill level to be an airline pilot. This would lead to the opposite effect intended by the proposal. What the Senate Inquiry needs to focus on is the quality of training a pilot receives not the quantity of hours a pilot has flown."

Rex has made a submission to the Senate inquiry which is available for public viewing and also on its website.

FMI: www.rex.com.au