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Low Cost Flights - are they dangerous?

Our younger daughter is a pilot with a small Swiss airline. After the commercial licence and training in the aircraft and in the big simulator centre in Orly, Paris, she started as a junior co-pilot (two stripes). She had to have 1000 hours before she got the third stripe. Captain? At least 4 years away, she tells me.
Is she actually flying now as a Co pilot? How can she get the third stripe?

Arye
 
To answer the OP I don't think so, as has been amply evidenced in this thread. My First flights were Leeds to Belfast in Dakota's, 8000ft over the Irish sea, then turbo jets, Avro 748 I think, plus the odd flight in an Elizabethan; later on London, Belfast, Leeds weekly. The quality of the pilots was the least of our worries, although at that time we had some ex RAF I think, certainly some hairy rides, landing at Leeds in a snowstorm was definitely not fun.
Civilsation caught up with BAC 111s in the late sixties, over the following years too numerous to remember, a final stint in Pakistan, most notable was landing in Khewra in an ancient Cessna on the side of a mountain, on a gravel runway about the size of a football pitch. Even then, safer than driving! (All this mostly work related)
Apologies, the thread brought back memories, mostly pleasant, although at the beginning I hated flying
 
It really doesn't matter whether LCAs are less safe to me (all flying is to be avoided if at all possible is my rule). Travelling on an LCA is so utterly dispiriting that you really want the plane to fall out of the sky and end the misery.
 
Yeah, four/five years ago it suffered some pressurisation issues. As I mentioned earlier, I was on a flight that suffer a depressurisation, that aircraft was about two years old at the time. It happens, it’s why aircraft have oxygen masks, they get down on the ground safely when it does happen. They would not be operating it if it was unsafe to do so. No airline wants an accident on their file.
 
Going back to the OP. Low cost airlines probably are more dangerous- to the crew, from stag and hen parties where everyone’s off their face.
You may be right. I use low cost airlines because they’re cheaper, when you make five or more return trips a year, it adds up, I’d rather spend the saved money on making more money. Most of my flights are under three hours so I’m happy with a basic seat, a couple of cups of tea (because coffee is atrocious on a plane) and a movie downloaded on my iPad from Netflix or Amazon, it’s all I need. I’m actually yet to encounter a rowdy stag/hen party but I avoid flying on a Thursday, Friday or Sunday, I also try and choose early morning outbound flights and (very) late returns, I think that helps.
 
I haven't flown chav-air since Excel in 2006. Miserable, utterly miserable, and I let out a yelp when that shoddy set up went under.

However, I'm facing going to Cyprus for a few days in the next three months with work. Knowing how most companies run these things now I'll be on the very cheapest ticket and stuffed into the nastiest 2* room in a Limassol back street. I suppose I could start a PFM blog on it, 'if' it happens.
 
Is she actually flying now as a Co pilot? How can she get the third stripe?

Arye
Yes, she's been a co-pilot since she finished her training (this comes with the airline after earning the commercial licence). They train on the aircraft that they'll fly (in her case, a twin jet, 100-seater). Some airlines start their co-pilots as three-stripers, but my daughter's airline starts them as two-stripers and then elevates them to three when they've satisfactorily done 1000 hours. With three stripes, she also has the joy of the walk around in all weathers, kicking the tyres, making sure that the plane has the appropriate complement of engines and that it isn't leaking hydraulic fluid all over the place. She has to go back to the simulators in Orly every year:

https://www.aviasim.com/en/professional-pilots/

to be thrown new problems. She once landed on the Hudson, like Sully!
 
Going back to the OP. Low cost airlines probably are more dangerous- to the crew, from stag and hen parties where everyone’s off their face.

a colleague flew back from Barcelona at the weekend (EasyJet) and the flight was delayed a few hours, then an hour into the flight an old person keeled over and the crew were asking for a doctor etc...then the guy at the back of the plane starts kicking off and effing and blinding at everyone - and he had to be restrained with plastic zip ties...
when they landed, paramedics came on for the oap, and armed police for the nutter...
 
Wife's nephew was a joiner by trade until he stepped onto some non-existent scaffolding boards at first floor height and smashed both legs very badly. He's since recovered and is now learning to fly rather more horizontally than vertically. Has his basic licence, intruments, night flying etc. and AFAIK is well on the way to getting into commercial stuff. Good luck to him. Bright lad.
 
Wife's nephew was a joiner by trade until he stepped onto some non-existent scaffolding boards at first floor height and smashed both legs very badly. He's since recovered and is now learning to fly rather more horizontally than vertically. Has his basic licence, intruments, night flying etc. and AFAIK is well on the way to getting into commercial stuff. Good luck to him. Bright lad.
Don't know how it works in the UK, but in Swizzieland, the commercial licence must be earned on a multi-engined aircraft - in our girl's case, one of these:

https://www.diamondaircraft.com/aircraft/da42/

She said nothing about the test and the first we knew of it was a photo on WhatsApp with her standing triumphantly beside her plane.
"How do you feel?"
"My legs are sore."
"Why?"
"I've been flying this thing on one engine for a large part of the day."
The tester turns off one of the engines and expects the candidate to maintain level flight. He also stalls the plane and expects the candidate to recover it. Hopefully, if the UK does the same thing, your nephew's legs won't give him problems.
 
a colleague flew back from Barcelona at the weekend (EasyJet) and the flight was delayed a few hours, then an hour into the flight an old person keeled over and the crew were asking for a doctor etc...then the guy at the back of the plane starts kicking off and effing and blinding at everyone - and he had to be restrained with plastic zip ties...
when they landed, paramedics came on for the oap, and armed police for the nutter...
Shameful, the guy who kicked off needs to be hit with the full force of the law, what a massive tit. Hope the old guy was okay.

A friend was on a flight from Alicante to Liverpool last week, a guy went into cardiac arrest. The plane diverted and made an emergency landing and the cabin crew kept up chest compressions until paramedics were able to board the plane, he didn’t make it but the crew did everything right. I can’t imagine how it must have felt to be in that flight and it must be awful for the crew.:(
 
Shameful, the guy who kicked off needs to be hit with the full force of the law, what a massive tit. Hope the old guy was okay.

A friend was on a flight from Alicante to Liverpool last week, a guy went into cardiac arrest. The plane diverted and made an emergency landing and the cabin crew kept up chest compressions until paramedics were able to board the plane, he didn’t make it but the crew did everything right. I can’t imagine how it must have felt to be in that flight and it must be awful for the crew.:(

yes, must have been a scary situation when it kicks off...I'm guessing he was probably drunk :(
 
Don't know how it works in the UK, but in Swizzieland, the commercial licence must be earned on a multi-engined aircraft - in our girl's case, one of these:

https://www.diamondaircraft.com/aircraft/da42/

She said nothing about the test and the first we knew of it was a photo on WhatsApp with her standing triumphantly beside her plane.
"How do you feel?"
"My legs are sore."
"Why?"
"I've been flying this thing on one engine for a large part of the day."
The tester turns off one of the engines and expects the candidate to maintain level flight. He also stalls the plane and expects the candidate to recover it. Hopefully, if the UK does the same thing, your nephew's legs won't give him problems.

Indeed. I'm sure he's taken advice on that. Like I said. Bright lad. (Apart from walking down a hole)
 


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