Originally Posted by
prior121
Dude I don't mean to come across as some jaded senior FO but 1000 hours 121 is the bare minimum anyone should be operating a 75,000 pound airplane around the US as PIC.
Some of you guys that have never experienced a winter flying in and out of the NE part 121 need that before you have any business being Captains on an aircraft in part 121 ops.
I'm not bashing all the guys out there with all this 135 experience, but there is a big difference between being able to hand fly an ILS to mins in a Piper Navajo and making command decisions while flying a CRJ 900 or a E175 in and out of some of the busiest airports in the world.
Totally agreed--you need two winters in 121 ops as the bare minimum to have 80 lives on your shoulders barreling down the pipe in an 80,000 pound jet in a horrible gusty crosswind to mins, on a contaminated runway in the middle of the night.
I feel like I only get a really solid, hair-raising approach like that every 6-9 months or so--you need to see that/feel it like multiple times with a seasoned CA in the left seat to really refine your own personal comfort zone, and to recognize your own personal limits, so you'll know when it's time to blast out of there and wave off when you're the final authority for the operation of the airplane as a Captain.
On top of all of that--anyone who thinks they're ready to be a CA after less than 1,000 hours in 121 ops needs to consider the self-preservation aspect. Are you really prepared to deal with mx write-ups and make sure you're completely legal to go, with a Fed in the jumpseat looking over your shoulder in Omaha at 5AM in the middle of winter? Are you really, truly ready to be the person the new hire FO looks over to with that "uhhhhh your controls" comment, 20 feet above the ground, sideways, drifting off the centerline? Honestly, you're probably never truly ready for that--but you're sure as heck not ready with less than 1,000 hours in that operational environment when there are a whole bunch of peoples' lives in your hands.