Pilot X-quoting you because of the doctor comment, but aimed at entire thread, not you. I know you were addressing the less than flattering post from the other poster.

I've flown with a few guys with law degrees that couldn't fly all that well and would have been better in an office.

I'm one of those guys without a 4 year degree. Many of my friends here are in the same boat. I was on my way to one when I made the decision to quit and fly for a regional because Piedmont didn't require a 4 year degree at the time. Flying for Piedmont was my dream and I figured that they could not continue to grow and hire at that rate they were in the early '80's. I was correct. At times I wondered if it was the right decision, but looks like it worked out. Now there are a few areas of study that interest me-maybe after retirement, if I can pull the writing off. Not my strong suit.

All that said, my current position has allowed me to work with many new hires this last year. Most, whether from the military or flow(I haven't worked with the few non-military, non-flows we've hired) have been great. The flow guys usually have an easier time because they have the airline stuff down, but every military hire has worked their rear off to catch up.

There will be some bad apples from all barrels. Painting a picture that our flow pilots are losers that could not get hired elsewhere is false and unfair. Many have decided that, like it or not, AA has gone down the flow road and that if they want to fly here then that's the choice.

I've had two flow guys with attitudes and we had to have a chat. Thing is, I don't think the attitude was a product of the flow, it was their personality and it would have been there no matter what their background.

The last year has shown me that we have an amazingly talented pilot group. Often personalities get mistaken for being a poor pilot and we need to separate the two.