Originally Posted by
Swakid8
1500 hours isn’t a arbitrary number, that was always required for the ATP. The difference was now that all operating crew members of a Part 121 flight must now hold a ATP and a PIC type-rating in the aircraft. Not a just a commercial ticket for those not operating in a non-PIC role.
Yes, we've kind of been having a circular argument about why an ATP is required to crew Air Transport operations.
The "1500 hour" rule actually added some exceptions to the old ATP rules (ie R-ATP).
So maybe the discussion should be how low can we go with R-ATP exceptions and under what circumstances? Unless anybody really thinks a 200 hour CPL from a 141 flight school really belongs in a passenger jet?