Sir - My distaste of the attitudes held by the majority of pilots I have met was increased by Peter Llendell's letter, "Dangers of paying less than going rate" (Flight International, 28 February-5 March, P37).
How does Mr Llendell arrive at the conclusion that the safest pilots are those who are attracted by the most money? Not only are those pilots engaged in long-haul operations with the airline, which has most recently adopted a divided pay scale and some of the highest paid, under-worked pilots in the UK, they also hardly do enough flying to remain current. What little flying they do is controlled by computers, which make the ship inherently safe for the most inept pilot.
I believe that the safest pilots are those who, through some fanaticism, have chosen to pursue a career at "grass-roots" level, or those who are stuck at that level.
I cannot help but feel that some of the companies, which have gone down the tubes, would not have done so if:
pilots had not demanded the amount they did in financial rewards and time off;
there had been an earlier implementation of a flight-time-limitations scheme, akin to that proposed by the European Joint Aviation Authorities.
ADRIAN MILDWATER
Fenny Compton, Warwickshire, UK
Source: Flight International
