Background Factors That Affect Pilot Success in Regional Airline Training

<p>Following the Colgan Air accident in February 2009, the U.S. Congress and the traveling public called for increased flight experience requirements for pilots of regional airlines. In response, Congress enacted the <em> Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Act of 2010</em> . This legislation required that regional airline pilots, inclusive of first officers, have an Airline Transport Pilot certificate and a minimum of 1,500 total flight hours. This legislation had a provision that allowed the Federal Aviation Administration to create credit toward flight hours for pilots who had specific academic training courses above normal pilot certification. The Pilot Source Study was initiated to determine the credits that should be made towards the 1,500 total flight hours requirement. This study analyzed the records of 420 regional airline pilots who went through training between 2005 and 2010 and found the pilot source (background) factors that affected success in regional airline initial training, initial operating experience, first-year line observations, and first-year recurrent training. Results showed that pilots who had a college degree, a degree in aviation, a flight degree accredited by Aviation Accreditation Board International, a flight instructor certificate, or between 500 and 1,000 total flight hours were more likely to complete training. Results also showed that pilots who had an Airline Transport Pilot certificate had fewer extra events during training.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Aeronautics

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis - Open Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Applied Aviation Sciences

Year

2012

Author dc:creator

• Herchko, Derek Alan

• pilots
• regional airlines
• flight training
• Aviation
• Management and Operations

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.erau.edu/edt/81

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.erau.edu:edt-1080