Originally Posted by rickair7777

Adlerdriver has a point. I guess my version of that, from the perspective of someone who passed on a couple opportunities and enjoyed the full brunt of the lost decade, would be to proceed at flank-speed towards your career-destination airline (especially if you're older), but consider a "strategic pause" if you're looking at a jet upgrade with less than about 2,500 hours 121.

A lot of it comes down to you, so pay close attention to what your CA's are doing, especially when time pressure builds or you're confronted with delays, bingo fuel, and diversions. If you're within a year of upgrading, you should mentally shadow the CA for all non-routine activities, and ask him about what he's doing. Many CA's will be happy to let you "play" CA, and you should ask to do that as upgrade approaches.

Be aware that your previous experience (and the fact that you're a grownup, unlike some 121 FOs) will be helpful, but it will not replace turbine experience in the real system. You'll feel pretty comfortable with piston GA flying, but 121 is a big step change from that.

It's easy to answer a hypothetical black-and-white question about Mx or Wx and no-go. It's harder to deal with that marginal grey area, especially when you have 50+ pax who want to get where they're going, a crew that wants to get back in time for their commutes, and you're not sure how the company MOD is going to react when you call him. This is where experience, even SIC experience, helps.