Originally Posted by JohnBurke

Retired airline pilots jumping at the change to glob onto on-call 24/7 jobs in light piston aircraft? A few maybe. Out of sheer boredom. And a desire to recapture their youth (when pilots actually spend a few years gaining experience flying freight, etc, before going to an airline.

A requirement for a few, paltry hours of multi time (250 hours multi is not very much) to satisfy insurance isn't new, nor is it a large burden.

Insurance isn't a "regulatory agency," but it does cost money and what it will and won't cover are strong influences in who will or will not be qualified to be considered for employment. It's been that way for a long, long time. Employers can choose how much they want to pay: inexperienced pilots can be hired, but will cost an employer more. If an employer can do better and pay less, the employer probably will.

Conversely, I've seen employers, quite a few of them, that won't hire experienced pilots, but want the bare minimum of experience; the employer pays peanuts, flies junk aircraft with less than stellar schedules, and knows that low-time pilots are more likely to put up with it, and also to stick around to get their hours logged.

Being on call around the clock isn't illegal, so long as being on call allows for legal rest prior to responding for duty. If, for example, an employer requires the employee to answer the phone 24/7, but then gives the employer 12 hours to take the flight after the call, the employee has prospective rest, and is legal.

Being on a phone-tether 24/7 with a few minutes notice to respond, is not legal, and is well-established in FAA Chief Legal Counsel letters of interpretation. It's not a gray area.

As for "freight dogs" being "dead," not remotely so.