Originally Posted by
jmo901
There are plenty who are far better pilots at 500 hours than some others at the magic 1000/1500 number. The regionals hand out CJOs like business cards today. Get the hours, don't say anything stupid in the interview and you got the job. Why not reduce the hour requirement and make the hiring process more competitive?
This is the exact reason WHY there is a hours requirement. The regionals have proven not to be responsible in choosing quality pilots over cheap pilots. The reason Colgan happened, aside from very poor airmanship from the Captain is that the airline refused to distance itself from a subpar aviator. The argument in favor of the 1500/1000 hour rule is that it gives you experience that you don't get with a wet commercial.
The pilot shortage was always coming. It was delayed by age 65 and then accelerated by the ATP rule. If we go back to 500 hour pilots, there will still be a shortage. It won't make the process more competitive. The airlines are going to have to replace almost half their workforce in 10 years. Tens of thousands of pilots.
The reason you are getting weak pilots at 1000 hours is because the pay has finally reached a point where Joe Midlife Crisis can justify taking a stab at it. The people who have left the industry are still staying away, although the pay increase is starting to bring them back.
I don't disagree that the ATP rule is arbitrary. Are there really bad 1500 hour pilots flying VFR direct to their $100 hamburger every weekend? Absolutely. Are there really good 500 hour pilots who have solid IFR and airmanship skills? Absolutely. Unfortunately, there had to be something done to keep 200 hour 40 day wonders out of regional jets, the easiest and most logical way to do it was just make everyone get an ATP and provide cutouts for structured training.