The Great Experiment

Alexis de Tocqueville, a 19th-century French historian, described the United States as a great experiment. He called it an attempt to construct society upon a new basis, founded on theories previously unknown or impracticable. Another great experiment is occurring, this time in aviation.In 2006, ICAO quietly passed the Multiple-Crew Pilot License (MPL). ICAO recognized that many countries trained airline pilots using ab initio programs. These zero-to-hero courses put people with no previous flying experience into the right seat of an airliner in the shortest time possible. The MPL-supplanting the normal path through private and commercial licenses-replaces most piston flying with advanced simulators.

Key Takeaways:

• The Multiple-Crew Pilot License (MPL), introduced by ICAO in 2006, is a new *ab initio* training program designed to rapidly qualify airline pilots primarily using advanced simulators, minimizing actual aircraft flight time.
• This contrasts sharply with the U.S., which increased airline pilot experience requirements to 1500 flight hours post-2010, establishing a "great experiment" in divergent pilot training philosophies.
• Initial data on MPL pilots shows total course flight times from 246 to 404 hours (with as little as 80 hours in an actual plane), raising concerns about radio communication skills and potential challenges in Captain decision-making due to limited real-world and solo flight experience.

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