Just over a decade ago
Just over a decade ago when this career was still worth something it was not all that common for those with less than 1500 hours to get hired at a regional anyway. In my new hire class in the late 1990's I was the lowest time guy in class with 4000 hours.
The fact that it is common now to get hired with so little time should be evidence to all of how miserable this profession really is. Most who get hired now loose faith and quit within a few years.
There are thousands of furloughed and laid off pilots around but the regionals still can only find new hires with a few hundred hours to fill their classes. The writing is on the wall for those who care to see it.
Skyhigh