Originally Posted by
gargonp
I don't know why the company couldn't award it to those who are close to the 1000 hrs based on a later projected conversion date and require them to have the time before converting. They know the 88As will not convert at the beginning of the window. There are still 88As from the last AE that have not yet converted.
They knew this was going to happen, but I don't think they said anything about it in any of the postings for the AE. Maybe with sufficient warning someone who was close would have picked up some trips to put them over the line?
I think the hard line is merely based on simplicity. How close is close? Is 900 out of the 1,000 SIC close? How about 750? What if that person elects to bid reserve after their award and tries to "coast" to the end and falls short? The company would probably look at it as a missed training event. This way they can simply draw a clean line.
I wonder how many FOs were affected? And, to me, the more interesting question might be, prior to this AE, has the company awarded and/or pay protected other similarly situated pilots - those awarded a Capt AE without having the requisite Part 121 1,000 SIC (reducible to 500 SIC for certain military types)?