Originally Posted by
Aero1900
I disagree. I learned a lot being a captain. It changes the way you think about things and how you approach problem solving. I've been told by many captains at frontier that they can always tell if the FO was a captain themself or not. Note, that's not to say that an FO can't or won't make a great FO at a major, but I think a person with PIC time is more likely to be a better day to day line pilot. I believe someone who has sat in the left seat is going to be more helpful to the guy in that seat when he needs help.
The mindset is different between the captain and the FO. I think being a captain is a very valuable experience.
I'm guessing you were hired low-time and upgraded relatively quickly? Your ability to lead and make decisions should have no bearing on the seat you're in, but I can see how you may "believe" differently. The mindset is only different to folks that are unable to think. Sure, when you start at a new carrier you don't know the ropes and plane as well as the guy in the left seat; however, if that separation doesn't plateau quickly then something is very wrong. To each their own, but I'd much rather fly with a great pilot that can make good decisions and not judge them on some no science group-thought arbitrary metric on their résumé. In my experience a great candidate has nothing to do with TPIC. TPIC is just a badge some of you guys like to wear because you're caught in that dream I mentioned earlier. Been there, done that. Time to grow up.