I don't think it's a lie, I actually like it.

The only way to assure X level of safety at Y number of hours is to run rigorous national aviation academies with rigid standards and low very tolerance for deviation from standards, ie just like military flight school. And recurrent would be a real biatch.

But since that's not happening, flight hours (ie experience) do have a rough correlation to safety and that's well documented. Of course there's a lot of variables and inconsistencies (1500 hours pipeline or drop zone =/= 1500 fighter hours) but it's close enough for government work.

And I like my union, if they pulled off the 1500 hour rule over the objection A4A and RAA, more power to them. But really I think the colgan familes had more to do with pushing it over the top than anything else... hard to argue that profit DEPENDS on a certain number of pax fatalities with them in the room, have to pull your punches at the very least.