Reply To: Boeing 737 Max

There is another big difference between America and Europe.

In America is relatively cheap. You can rent a small plane for only $100 to $150 an hour, or less. Some rental companies will have you pay for the fuel, many don’t. Otherwise the only fee that you need to pay is the landing fee (which many airports don’t even have) which, unless you are flying into a big airport like JFK, is pretty cheap. That means you can go flying with 3 friends and only pay approximately $25-$35 an hour each. Also, since America has a government owned air traffic system, it remains up to date and the best in the world.

This means that pilots in America fly often with very little hassle. If I want, I can approach JFK in a Cessna 172, and with no prior warning, ask JFK for permission to land, and they will allow me to land. In Europe, landing clearance needs to be obtained sometimes days beforehand.

In Europe, the air traffic system is privately owned. This means that there are many more fees than just a landing fee. There is a takeoff fee, air traffic control fee, and many other fees. This doubles the cost of every single flight. As there is a pilot shortage worldwide, it is common for airlines to train pilots from zero hours to first officer. This means that from the very first flight, pilots are being trained how to fly an airliner. They focus on flying with a crew, rather than by oneself. They focus on flying with autopilot, rather than actually flying an airplane.

This means that American pilots in general, have way more experience flying than European pilots.

Captain™