Sir - Your Comment regarding the mobility of the European airline-pilot market (Flight International, 9-15 August, P3) was interesting and pertinent.
I have worked as a contract captain for European Community (EC) airlines for seven years. I have held Belgian, Dutch and Scandinavian air-transport-pilot's licences. The validation of my UK licence has never been much more than an air-law course, followed by a simulator check by the relevant licensing authority.
The same cannot be said for my EC counterparts seeking employment with a UK airline. They are subjected to most of the tedious written examinations for the senior licence and an initial instrument rating with a UK Civil Aviation Authority Administration examiner. The ludicrous situation arises where an experienced heavy-jet pilot has to rent a light-twin aircraft and be subjected to a check-ride with a CAA examiner - an expensive and time-consuming process.
I believe that the barriers placed in the way of EC pilots are a subtle way of controlling the employment market in the UK. The British Airline Pilots Association has conveniently kept a low profile on the subject. Regulations on UK licensing of EC pilots need a drastic overhaul and, until that happens, the concept of mobility of pilots within the EC will be nothing more than myth.
Capt. ROBIN RACKHAM
Stockholm, Sweden
Source: Flight International
