Originally Posted by DiveAndDrive

I want to maintain a level of privacy for all involved.

But for what it's worth, I now have an idea of the challenges the training department can face. ZW is still in my top 3 for regionals. Yes, I am very worried about the training. That's the biggest drawback I can consistently think of when it comes to ZW.

But I just recently upgraded to captain at my part 135 Caravan operation. Our FOs are very diverse. Some get hired with 250 hours and are stellar. Some have 1000 hours and are very weak. To be honest, I was pretty naive when it came to pilot skill, or lack thereof. As a FO, all of my CA's were excellent.

But in the other seat, I can definitely see the disparity. I let a 400 hour FO that was with the company for two months fly into a class B airport. It was his first time going into a Bravo, first PRM approach, and first time with icing. He was obviously outside his comfort zone, but he did fine.

I had another FO who got hired with damn near quad digit hours and has been with the company for a while, and I had to take the controls from him because he fishtailed all the way through the localizer. His time was built in mostly VFR.

I don't mean to talk smack about anyone. But the point is that I am now a firm believer that it's the quality of hours, not the quantity of hours that matter. I've always known it, but now I've experienced it first hand. I haven't been through a part 121 program yet, I'm not God's gift to aviation, and I don't know it all. But my take away is get out and challenge yourself. Get outside your comfort zone. Don't fly ONLY when it's P6SM SKC. It's not doing you, or the person sitting next to you, any good. Just my two cents.