Now that most "Legacy" carriers are hiring, or at least getting ready to hire what could be a massive amount of pilots over the next 5 years due to retirement, I pose a question or two.

1) How many regional captains will not be able to "afford" to move on to the majors due to the signifigant cut in pay seen in the first few years of the jump?

2) With many legacy carriers PIC turbine time is not a requirement. Does anyone forsee current regional F/O's that have more than the published requirements as being able to obtain positions at places such as US Airways, NWA, and the like.


I do understand that the majors leave some of their minimums lower so that the men and women who serve our county flying in the military are not at a disadvantage (due to less overall flying time/year vs airlines), but there are going to be plenty more spots open than what just these folks will fill. So this is more tailored towards the civilians. I pose these questions b/c I know of more than a few "mainline" pilots who were hired in 1999, having no PIC turbine time or the like. Just curious to see everyone's thoughts or comments.