JetBlue Eyes Flying-Time Rules With New Pilot-Training Program

JetBlue Airways Corp. has devised a new, in-house pilot-training program for students who have no previous flying experience, seeking to demonstrate to regulators that novices can attain proficiency more quickly than current rules allow, according to people familiar with the details.

From the start, the trial program would focus more than current ones on simulator training, emergency decision-making and coordinating crews in complex jetliners, rather than emphasizing routine flying time in simpler planes. Most airline pilots in the U.S. currently are required to log at least 1,500 hours at the controls of smaller aircraft before getting a commercial license.

The fledgling aviators in the JetBlue program still would have to meet this requirement, but by assessing students at various intervals short of 1,500 hours, the airline seeks to show that its curriculum can produce outstanding pilots who have spent fewer hours in actual aircraft, the people said.

Some airlines, flight schools and other critics have said the 1,500-hour requirement is so lengthy and expensive that it can deter high-quality prospective fliers, raising the risk of a nationwide pilot shortage as more veterans retire.

JetBlue's move is the most dramatic industry response yet to find alternate ways to recruit and train new hires. While complying with all Federal Aviation Administration requirements, the people familiar with the details said, the airline hopes the initiative will serve as a catalyst for ultimately cutting the 1,500-hour requirement.

JetBlue spokesman Doug McGraw disputed that the carrier advocates changes to the current regulations. He said the trial program—expected to include about two dozen participants—is intended to build "the complex skills required of airline pilots from the first day."

The carrier has enough applicants for the time being, Mr. McGraw said, but the goal is "to ensure the quality of our current cadre of pilots is maintained," and that JetBlue continues attracting "the best pilots in the industry well into the future."

Before they could slide behind the controls of a JetBlue plane, every student would have "meet the full slate of requirements" spelled out by the FAA, Mr. McGraw said. In addition, once they start flying regular routes, graduates initially will face more-rigorous supervision than typical JetBlue pilots.

If regulators approve the trial program, JetBlue would become the only U.S. carrier to offer some applicants a training concept widely used around the globe that guarantees airline jobs for fledgling aviators. American pilots typically now gain experience at aviation schools or in the military, and then seek jobs at airlines. Complete in-house training programs at airlines haven't been seen in the U.S. since the Vietnam War, which led to a severe commercial-pilot shortage.

Student pilots will have to pay for their training just as others do now, but the entire program will be run by JetBlue, with the carrier making a hiring commitment at the outset, contingent on students meeting all training standards.

Pending regulatory approval of the program, the initial batch of students could start by next summer. It is projected to take at least four years to complete the training. The training initiative was reported earlier by Bloomberg News.

Since the company started envisioning the curriculum months ago, according to the people familiar with the details, supporters inside JetBlue were focused on using the program to gather data to buttress arguments for reducing the FAA's current experience mandate.

FAA officials overseeing training programs have declined to comment.

JetBlue's approach, however, already is generating controversy inside and outside the company, the people familiar with the details said, especially from pilot-union leaders who see it as a tactic to try to undermine the established experience level, which was mandated by Congress.

According to a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, North America's largest pilot union, JetBlue's plan "is not an effective way to secure qualified aviators." In a letter to members, leaders of the local union chapter blasted the move as a way to avoid "dealing with the need to improve rates of pay, rules and working conditions."

On the other hand, critics of the 1,500-hour rule say it has made pilot training too long and expensive for many candidates. Combined with low salaries and airline bankruptcies, training requirements have "turned off an entire generation of prospective pilots from joining the industry," said consultant Roger Cohen, a former president of the Regional Airline Association.

Germany's Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Canada's CAE Inc., a major simulator and training provider, have been in discussions about participating in the program, according to one person familiar with the details. The JetBlue spokesman said "we have not finalized all of our partner agreements." A Lufthansa spokesperson couldn't be reached immediately. A spokeswoman for CAE, which supports JetBlue's training facility in Orlando, Fla., declined to comment.

JetBlue's plan comes amid continuing debate over loosening the flight-hour requirement, which was put in place in the wake of the Colgan Air turboprop crash near Buffalo, N.Y., six years ago.

An industry-and-labor advisory group, tasked to review the issue for the FAA, isn't expected to call for significant reduction in experience levels for most new airline pilots, according to one of the group's members. The panel is likely to end up recommending marginal reduction in-flight hours, but primarily for ex-military fliers and graduates of four-year academic aviation programs, this person said.

Write to Andy Pasztor at [e-mail]

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 26, 2015 21:35 ET (02:35 GMT)

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