I liked how it was back in the late 90's MINUS the PFT. Lowest mins were around 1200TT and 200ME and many were 1500TT and 300ME. People would get to 1200TT, but still had to get that multi time. People would go fly boxes or charter or something to get their multi time... and that was to just apply.

At the same time, I think the quality of pilots was better back then. By the time you got to a regional airline, you knew how to be a PIC - you knew the regs, you knew how to fly on instruments, you knew how to make decisions, you were truly ready to be an asset in an airline cockpit. At this point, you were merely improving your crew experience so when you upgraded, you would be a good captain.

I gotta say, I worry about regional pilots today: hired straight out of a puppy mill, no chance to season and learn to be a PIC before they're actually put in charge of 50-74 lives in the back of their planes. You can pass a checkride, but with no real PIC experience... how safe are you really?

If we were gonna raise minimums, I'd say ATP and 500 multi minimum to get hired at a regional.