16/11/2016 (Agence Europe) – In an opinion published on Monday 14 November, the President of the European Cockpit Association (ECA), Dirk Polloczek, said that he was concerned by the poor training conditions for young pilots, which could have a direct impact on flight safety. He is therefore calling on the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to work with the airlines to change the situation. Mr Polloczek explained that pilot training had undergone significant changes over recent years. Whereas in the past, airlines saw pilot training as an investment, they now saw it simply as a cost that had to be reduced or even avoided by choosing to externalise initial training in private schools. Mr Polloczek argued that this led to lower quality pilot training and to too many pilots on the market. (PH)