Yes he went from paying a bottom feeder to then being hired by Colgan. Which at the time was the lowest paid pilots and a terrible reputation. Only low time guys or those with multiple skeletons in their closets worked there. It only took 2500 hours for the right circumstances to test his skills or lack there of. A lot of people lost their life in that accident and it made us all look Busch League when the reports came out. He had no business on a flight deck but by paying to fly and the desperation for colgan to find guys who would work for $19,000 a year the perfect storm happened. I am assuming you were not flying around this time?

Yes 1500 hours is an arbitrary number but the only reason the pay is what it is at regionals now is the changes made to the FARS after the buffalo crash. The safety record over the past decade shows that it had a positive effect. Not just for the unions like you are arguing but for safety and the passengers.