Dear Pat:
I would like to add a bit of depth of perspective to your comments. I do not disparage or deny any of your points but…
As a fairly experienced pilot in command (C-141, B-747, ATR-42, CV-240, DC-6… 20K+hrs) I have to generally agree with your viewpoint about most Asian and third world F/Os. They do not have a wealth of training or experience when the first saddle up a jet. Thus, most Asian and third world airlines are very, very insistent that crews use automation to the make and never stray out of their “lane”. Culture, specifically the Asian concept of “face”, inhibits a lot of the training of the inexperienced. I have many acquaintances that flew for various Asian companies and they will tell tales that will make you most uncomfortable.
Now, the concept of “face” hardly enters into the Western concept of training. What does enter in is the growing level of lack of flight experience in the actual Instructors doing the training. Even the pretty much ab initio programs out there that are ginning up are using more and more barely trained instructors to fill the seats in their programs. Do they have the minimum hours required: yes. Are they FAA certified: yes. Do they have the minimum amount of knowledge: yes. Do they have any real experience: no. These instructors are teaching only what they were taught and what the “book” says. Why you ask? Because that is all they can possibly know. I ran into the same issue during my USAF pilot training. The “plow back” Lts went to a 6 month school to be IPs and were the product of a pretty darn effective system. But, that was all they knew. They did not have the experience that other IPs had by flying other aircraft. We students often had to go to the experienced IPs for a different viewpoint to be able to pick up on some concepts.
Now, combine the limited sort of training I described with max effort computer based training and the lack of potential quality in brand new or low time F/Os here in the “west” increases. Combine that with no effort at “line training” by companies and minimum visits to the sim, well, sooner or later…
During sim training, one thing I noticed in my time on the line was a total lack of multiple emergencies being tossed at the crew. The concept was only one problem at a time, period. Well, in real life, up there somewhere inside the boundaries of the air, when one thing goes wrong, other little gremlins are always trying to jump on the bandwagon. The current trend of absolute minimum levels of training, lots of CBT and as little classroom time as possible, all to minimize cost, is going to bite the industry some day.
Just my “grumpy old Captain” thoughts on a Monday morning.