Originally Posted by
1223344
What is the point of requiring fos to upgrade in order to flow? A lot of young people at Pdt think that upgrading is an hour requirement (1000 hours 121) and I believe it’s an experience requirement. As a semi senior fo who has made the choice not to upgrade I have flown with ALOT of captains who are VERY nervous. Do you think that makes a good captain?? Most of which upgraded right at 1000 hours. Don’t get me wrong there are plenty who upgraded at 1000 hours and are great captains.
If you aren't competent enough to be the captain of this trainer jet, I don't think you should be flying at AA in either seat.
As for the whole "some FOs can't afford 3 months of min guarantee and no per diem".... by staying in the right seat you are denying yourself a substantial pay raise. How can anyone afford to do that? Pick up three days of triple over a year, save that money, and that's more than the difference between three months of training pay and three months of line flying pay. The argument doesn't hold water.
But you're right about a lot of FOs thinking that 1000 hrs = CA. That's a byproduct of people coming here for short upgrades alone. These are they guys who won't stop talking about what date they go to the schoolhouse, and start trying to play right seat CA. It's becoming a high percentage of guys.
But while we're on the topic of becoming a CA being an experience requirement.... shouldn't there be "experience requirement" to fly for a mainline carrier? Like PIC time? It makes you a better pilot without a doubt. And you certainly would have a difficult time getting on at AA by traditional means with 0 PIC time.