Originally Posted by
SAABaroowski
You know there is a lot of talk on here about the industry going to hell because they are hiring people with 600 hrs total time etc.................... Well some of you people seem to forget that United used to have ads in the newspapers....................Do you have 250hrs and a Commercial Pilots license??????????????? Come be an airline pilot. Whats the difference you ask????????????? The airplanes are safer now and the training has improved greatly so get off the whole, "oh my god a 600hr wonder kid"
PS I said 20 yrs ago I didnt realize how old I was so lets make it more like 40 or so years ago
And the low timer could look forward to riding sideways for 10 years or so, then spending another decade or so in the right seat. This doesn't count the inevitable furloughs, some of which were 5 years or more, which may or may not mean anything, depending on what said furloughee did during that time. Bottom line: by the time the "wonder kid" got to the left seat of anything, he was no longer a low timer.
Today, the expectation seems to be that if you meet minimum quals (ATP) you are automatically entitled, qualified, and owed a left seat in a SJ.
By the way, the day of "do you have a pulse? Come be an airline pilot." didn't last long, and in general, real hiring quals were higher than today with most new hires prior to deregulation being military trained.