Pilot Source Study 2015: An Analysis of FAR Part 121 Pilots Hired after Public Law 111-216—Their Backgrounds and Subsequent Successes in US Regional Airline Training and Operating Experience

This report is the second in a series entitled Pilot Source Study 2015. Public Law 111-216 (Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010) and the subsequent FAA regulation changed pilot hiring for US air carriers operating under 14 CFR Part 121. The Pilot Source Study 2015 was designed to determine the effect of Public Law 111-216 on US regional airlines after its effective date, August 1, 2013. The study collected records for 6,734 FAR Part 121 regional airline pilots to determine the effect of pilots’ backgrounds on their performance in regional airline training and operations. A previous report (Bjerke et al., 2016) compared the backgrounds of these pilots (post-law pilots) to the backgrounds of pilots hired between 2005 and 2011 (pre-law pilots). This report examines the performance of post-law new-hire pilots in initial training and operations as first officers for Part 121 regional air carriers. Post-law pilot backgrounds were measured against four performance measures: non-completions, extra training, extra initial operating experience (IOE), and extra recurrent training. Pilots who had the fewest non-completions and required less extra training were the recent college graduates (fewer than 4 years since graduation), pilots with fewer total flight hours (1,500 hours or less), and pilots who graduated from flight programs accredited by the Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI). Pilots who required less extra IOE and less extra recurrent training were pilots whose previous employment was with a Part 121 air carrier, recent college graduates (fewer than 4 years since graduation), and pilots with fewer total flight hours (1,500 hours or less). Other background indicators of successful performance included the Institutional-Authority Restricted ATP (R-ATP); a bachelor’s degree, particularly in aviation; and prior military pilot experience. The third report of this series will compare background and success factors between pre-law pilots and post-law pilots