Hacker News Reader

Does anyone know the specific rules or statutes that underpin this argument? What are the actual rules designating how much experience a pilot/team needs with a particular airline before they're allowed to fly?

It'd be interesting to dig into the history behind them. (Did pilots lobby for them, or did they make sense at some point for safety?)

View on HN

It used to be that the captain had to have an ATP (Airline Transport Certificate), which implies 1500 hours of experience. The first officer could have a standard Commercial certificate, which requires only 250 hours. This changed just recently, so now that both pilots must have an ATP. By 2016, both will be required to have a type rating as well.

This link http://www.pilotscafe.com/new-first-officer-atp-rules-explai... explains it in pretty simple terms.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com