Originally Posted by
HeavyDriver
Short cuts to the front seat has never been a good path. People have paid the ultimate price for incapacity or lack of experience. Darwin should have a chance to look you over a bit before your allowed to pilot an airplane with people riding in the back of it. At my airline I've seen many FE's with 10,000+ Hours panel time struggle at the flying part of the job, and these are experienced crew members. Also are you on the hook for the 125k if your not successful at the end of this training contract?
They still have to get 1500 hours and an ATP just like every other airline pilot. Plenty of people used to go into RJs with a not so good training program at 250 hours. My understanding is they will be sponsored in a more regimented program, but I thought they were still going to be flying in various commercial jobs as part of this program prior to becoming JetBlue pilots. He could get a regional job flying an e175 or a JetBlue job flying an e190 with the same qualifications and experience. This is just a more clearly defined and shorter path to get on with a better airline than a regional. Disclaimer: I think the program isn't a great idea seeing the thousands of qualified regional guys and military guys waiting for a call.