Originally Posted by
ackattacker
They aren't going to want to hire hundreds of them and take seats away from paying passengers. (Yes, a passenger usually sits in the right seat). Also, they aren't going to hire somebody with 250 hours and have them ride around as a glorified non-rev for years getting up to 1500 hours.
FO's at Cape don't take away seats from paying passengers unless they're required for the flight. Otherwise they're positive space. If the flights full the FO gets bumped not the pax.
SIC's are required in our 135 op specs, with the autopilot making an exemption to the rule. Therefore SIC can be logged regardless of the autopilot.
They've hired people with real low time in the past but it's not the norm. The Gateway program with jetBlue is probably the best way to go if your son went to an AABI school and did his training there.