Originally Posted by
orbit82
My fear is because they put the new/training pilots on propeller planes. You have to have more experience to fly a jet. I mean if people take flying lessons they start out on propeller planes. There was a colgan airlines propeller plane that crashed 5 or 6 years ago because the pliots didn't know what they were doing (the copilot was 24 years old, and the captain had failed competency tests). If I could have gotten a jet I would have but the budget I'm working under wouldn't allow me to.
Pilots start out in
piston powered aircraft as it's much cheaper. Yes they have propellers, but that's where the similarities end with aircraft like the Q-400. Unless you are already wealthy, no pilot could afford to start taking lessons in a turbine powered aircraft.
Airline pilots are well trained, educated and highly skilled. No reason to doubt their competency as a passenger. Unfortunately pilots are still human, and no matter the amount of reduncy, rules, regulations, etc there is, problems do happen. It's just so infrequent that if anything does happen, it's big news when it does. In reality there really isn't anything you could be doing that is safer than flying.