Students are now Learners.

Unbelievable! From the article:

"“Within the industry group the air-carrier people wanted to use ‘pilot-in-training’ and the general aviation people wanted ‘learner.’ After about two years of discussion, the FAA decided on ‘learner’ with the thought that at different times we are all learners."

Took em two years to come up with that ...

Your tax dollars at work!
 
That's idiotic. And now my biplane apparently has a "flight deck" instead of a "cockpit"?
 
We've sure come a long way from "Sticks and stones may break my bones" to "Words matter" to being "Politically Correct" to spending inordinate amounts of taxpayer money having "Fun With Semantics." A LONG way. Just not remotely convinced we've traveled in the correct direction.
 
From the article: Replacing “cockpit,” a term of nautical origin, with “flight deck” was an imperative for the airlines where the term is already commonplace—and obviously more reflective of that flight environment than, say, for a primary training airplane or a biplane with its driver’s seat exposed to the elements.

I wonder where these “geniuses” in the airlines think the word “deck” comes from. No nautical origins there... <- That was sarcasm ya know.

When I squeeze my fairly hefty self into the rear _cockpit_ of a Great Lakes biplane, I’m certainly not stepping onto a flight deck. No way, no how. It’s a cockpit.

What a colossal waste of time and money.
 
I'm not changing how I refer to students... and I hope I am still a student (one who studies) when I die.
 
I thought the end of my training gave me a "license to learn".

Does this mean we now have unlicensed learners?

It's all so confusing.
 
I do find the word student confusing after you earn your ppl but keep training. I’m working on my commercial maneuvers now... my CFI is the instructor, I am the learner. I am not a student pilot anymore. Technically I’m still a student but avoiding the term avoids ambiguity as well. I’m ok with that change, but I have no opinion on flight deck vs cockpit.
 
I do find the word student confusing after you earn your ppl but keep training. I’m working on my commercial maneuvers now... my CFI is the instructor, I am the learner. I am not a student pilot anymore. Technically I’m still a student but avoiding the term avoids ambiguity as well. I’m ok with that change, but I have no opinion on flight deck vs cockpit.
No you're not a Student Pilot, you are a Private Pilot, but you're still a student and he is your Instructor.

When you graduate from high school and go to college, you are still a Student, despite the fact that you're an undergraduate and no longer a high-schooler.
 

I totally agree that this is the stupidest thing I've ever heard! It reminds me of the old phrase "it's the solution to the problem that never existed"
What's wrong with being called a "student"? Look up the definition, and it matches perfectly with what a student pilot is.
And to think they spent two years looking into this, and what term to use instead of "student"!
With important things to address like lowering accident rates, improving education for pilots, and how to better implement the emerging technologies for general aviation, they spent time and resources to change the word "student" and "cockpit"!
It would be like the people on the titanic, after hitting the iceberg, running around to rearrange the deck chairs!
If these people have nothing better to do than waste their time on something so trivial, then they need to be sent home.
 
Sweet, maybe primary non-commercial will move one up in the queue.....
upload_2020-7-3_13-40-23.png
 
We've sure come a long way from "Sticks and stones may break my bones" to "Words matter" to being "Politically Correct" to spending inordinate amounts of taxpayer money having "Fun With Semantics." A LONG way. Just not remotely convinced we've traveled in the correct direction.
See George Carlin "Pussification"
 
I'm not changing how I refer to students... and I hope I am still a student (one who studies) when I die.

Nailed it.

When I was working on my Private License, I was a student, and my father was the instructor. When I got my tailwheel certification, again, I was a student. Ditto for the Instrument rating. Ditto for the Commercial. Ditto for the seaplane rating. Ditto when getting checked out in my plane. Ditto for getting checked out in the biplane. Ditto for acrobatics. To me, the word “student” implies learning from someone. I will always be a student in some form or another, because I will never stop studying and learning.
 
No you're not a Student Pilot, you are a Private Pilot, but you're still a student and he is your Instructor.
Yes, but saying I'm a student is ambiguous as to whether you mean student in the general sense, or student in the specific (student pilot) sense. See below.

When you graduate from high school and go to college, you are still a Student, despite the fact that you're an undergraduate and no longer a high-schooler.
The difference here is that there is no ambiguity. What's the analogue of "student pilot" in your example?

You may care about the ambiguity less than you care about your preference for using the term student in the general sense. I'm not trying to convince people otherwise, but I understand why the FAA would fall on the other side of it and don't object.
 
Sounds like something devised by a "Beginner Under Training Tutelage."

Unfortunately, not all students are "learners"...but whatever.
 
I do find the word student confusing after you earn your ppl but keep training. I’m working on my commercial maneuvers now... my CFI is the instructor, I am the learner. I am not a student pilot anymore. Technically I’m still a student but avoiding the term avoids ambiguity as well. I’m ok with that change, but I have no opinion on flight deck vs cockpit.

Nothing confusing about it.

Once you obtain your Private Pilot Certificate, you're no longer a Student Pilot. You're a rated Pilot.

When you go for an additional rating, you're a rated pilot, working on additional ratings.
 
We used to have dead end streets. Some thought that was pejorative and implied those who lived there had no chance of improvement or success. It was changed to no outlet, so now we have people who can't get out of their situation because there is no outlet.
 
Awesome, tax payers funded 2 years of discussion on this stupid topic instead of something important. Thanks for demonstrating how well our resources are currently being waisted.
 
The term "learner" instantly reminds me of the Milgram experiment. Interesting choice.

"I said more right rudder!" >>zap<<
 
Y'know, as a CFI, I've seen confusion when talking about "my student" and others automatically thinking "student pilot." So I've experimented with other terms. I know some CFIs use "client." That's decent since CFIs are (or at least should be) professionals, but it doesn't help much if the CFI is an accountant, lawyer, or other professional who has "clients."

So I can see a rationals for wanting to find a generic term to distinguish student pilot from a "student pilot."

But "learners" is pretty awful.
 
Unbelievable! From the article:

"“Within the industry group the air-carrier people wanted to use ‘pilot-in-training’ and the general aviation people wanted ‘learner.’ After about two years of discussion, the FAA decided on ‘learner’ with the thought that at different times we are all learners."

Took em two years to come up with that ...

Your tax dollars at work!

Indeed. And after all that, instructors, those they teach, other pilots, and the general public, will continue to use the term 'students' exclusively.
 
Y'know, as a CFI, I've seen confusion when talking about "my student" and others automatically thinking "student pilot." So I've experimented with other terms. I know some CFIs use "client." That's decent since CFIs are (or at least should be) professionals, but it doesn't help much if the CFI is an accountant, lawyer, or other professional who has "clients."

So I can see a rationals for wanting to find a generic term to distinguish student pilot from a "student pilot."

But "learners" is pretty awful.
Come to think of it I do use client more frequently than I probably realize, but student will stick regardless.
 
I'd like my CFI to call me his sponsor after all the money I've transfered to him over the years. Maybe "benefactor."

Just kidding...the money was definitely earned and his skills are worth it. It's just been a lot of money,
 
Come to think of it I do use client more frequently than I probably realize, but student will stick regardless.
Of course it will. People resist mandatory changes and non-mandatory language changes can take a generation. Look how successful dropping "biennial" and the "BFR" acronym from "flight review" has been (except, of course to the language police).
 
Back
Top