Why An Airline Pilot Training Is 'similar To A Specialist Surgeon' | Cruising Altitude

Flying is the safest way to travel according to global safety experts

Flying is the safest way to travel, according to experts.

• Pilots undergo rigorous training, accumulating hundreds of flight hours and passing numerous exams.
• Automation is changing pilot training, requiring pilots to master technology while maintaining hand-flying skills.
• Airlines prioritize safety through mentorship programs and empowering all employees to voice safety concerns.

The whole commercial aviation system is rooted in a safety-first approach. And although recent issues, from fatal incidents to communications blackouts have raised questions for many about how safe flying is, the data shows that commercial aviation remains, hands down, the safest way to travel. 

Part of the reason for that is the skilled professionals at every level of the industry, from air traffic controllers making sure flights chart a safe course to cabin crews whose primary role is keeping passengers safe in an emergency. 

Of course, on the flight deck, pilots also prioritize safety, and as the pipeline and training regimen for commercial pilots evolves, it does so with safety still at the forefront. 

“Passengers should know that we put our lives on the line every day for their safety,” Laura Einsetler, a captain at a major U.S. airline and author of the Captain Laura blog, told me. “As long as we have two highly experienced, well-trained pilots at the tip of the spear, they can feel safe and confident that we are giving them our very best.” 

Einsetler has been a commercial pilot for more than 30 years and said pilot training has always put safety first. 

It takes years to become a commercial airline pilot. They’re highly skilled professionals.  

I, personally, have never flown a commercial airplane, but I have had the thrilling experience of operating a 737 simulator a few times and I can tell you firsthand, it’s extremely hard! 

Even a few minutes in the simulator was enough to make me understand why pilot training is so rigorous. 

“Our experience level required just to be hired at the major airlines is similar to a specialist surgeon,” Einsetler told me. “It’s 5-8 years at the minimum just to meet the requirements and the experience level required to be a new pilot at the major airlines.” 

Kenneth Byrnes, assistant dean of the Aviation College at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University underscored the amount of training commercial airline pilots need to go through before walking onto the flight deck. 

“It’s a lot of years of training, it’s a lot of commitment from the individual. It takes a long time and a lot of effort,” he said. 

Along the way, pilots need to accumulate hundreds of hours flying different kinds of aircraft, pass multiple practical and written exams, and work their way up from operating simple single-engine aircraft in pristine weather conditions to getting certified on extremely complex multi-engine planes and relying on their flight instruments alone for guidance. 

Like in nearly every other field, technology and automation are playing an ever-larger role in commercial aviation, and that has led to a slow evolution in how pilots fly. 

“The student needs to pass the skillset, the knowledge, to get the right amount of experience without relying on the technology,” Byrnes said. “At the same time, they have to understand technology, how it works. They have to be masters of that technology and they have to know when it’s working, when it’s not working, and understand what to do when it’s not.” 

He said hand flying skills remain important, but as technology increasingly performs basic flight functions, it’s equally crucial for pilots to be comfortable monitoring their computers and knowing how to catch signs of a malfunction so they can take over. 

Still, some pilots whose training emphasized hand flying more, worry that some of those skills are at risk of being lost in a new generation of aviators. 

“There has been a push for overreliance on automation,” Einsetler said. “That has done a disservice to our industry as a whole. We need to maintain our skillsets as well as our knowledge and high bar for training.” 

However, both she and Byrnes agree that airlines and pilot training programs are well-positioned to address the technology evolution, and said that commercial flights are extremely safe, no matter when your pilots were first trained. 

“The specific maneuvers that each pilot has to learn are not done by technology, it is still hand flown,” Byrnes said. 

“Pilots are assets, there to protect the passengers, the crew and the aircraft,” Einsetler added. “We are investments, so we need to have as much high-quality training with as much high-quality experience as possible.” 

Byrnes said one of the most exciting evolutions in commercial airline training is the emphasis carriers have increasingly placed on mentorship. 

“We can teach you knowledge and skills but the behavior side, the decision-making side, a lot of that is taught by role models,” he said. “Tying in that mentorship piece, the company cultures and those types of things, the best airlines do those types of things.” 

Airlines were previously much more hierarchical, and while that hasn’t exactly gone away, company cultures now often emphasize that people at all experience levels are empowered to speak up if they have a safety concern. 

“You think back to the older days of basically, ‘respect your elders, I have experience, don’t tell me what to do,’” Byrnes said. “What we learned as an industry was that that was a barrier that needed to be fixed. You’re taught as a junior pilot how to interact and deal with those situations and handle them effectively.” 

Einsetler said no matter what, aviation’s priority will always be to keep flying safe. 

“Safety always comes first over price and profit,” she said. “The focus has to always be safety first.” 

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York and you can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com.