Originally Posted by xjcaptain

Let's see...Poor instrument skills, poor communication skills (within cockpit and with ATC), poor airmanship (smooth seems to be unobtainable), low situational awareness, no weather experience...All of these issues turn the flight into pure instruction. For true CRM and safety at it's highest level both members need to be truly contributing to the flight. In order to contribute you need to bring something to the table. That something is called experience. Everybody is always learning on every flight, but the foundation needs to be there. An airliner is not an entry level cockpit. Some do O.K. with lower experience but any captain would rather have an experienced FO. The low time pilots will not realize how much a lack of experience in the right seat is a detriment to the flight. They will never know it until they are in the left seat babysitting a low time pilot. People may not like to hear it but experience does matter. An ATP is a good place to START as a MINIMUM qualification to be employed as an airline pilot.