Originally Posted by
Jetstream 823JS
Yes, We all start somewhere. I have flown with some very very low time new hires at PSA and overall they were very good pilots.
The problem is that these guys want to upgrade ASAP in order to get a livable wage.
When I had 3000 hrs I was right where Captain Renslow was; Flying an ice laden aircraft into Buffalo at night. Only I was doing it in a 310R loaded with bank checks.
I cringe when I see advertisements for flight schools advertising; Why fly a trainer when you can learn in a CRJ?
The left seat of a Q400 or CRJ is a pretty lofty perch for a pilot with 3000 hrs.
True.
When I was hired by my regional carrier in the mid 1980's, their minimums were 2000 hours total and 500 multiengine. There were plenty of applicants and many of those were not hired and a certain percentage didn't pass training.
The left seat of an RJ is no different then the left seat of a 767 responsibility wise. Friends who fly International say that their former regional and RJ flying was more work, more tiring and effort intensive, then riding over to Glasgow 4 times a month with an autopilot, an international officer (typed F/O) also known as "movie critic" to share the duties. Many F/O's have to go to the sim every few months to get landing qualified.
It's a pretty easy gig compared to slogging around domestically for 90 hours a month, shooting a lot of approaches, windy landings and dodging TRW's. Most of those pilots deserve the higher paying gig and are thankful they don't have to bang around in RJ's 90 hours/month.
It's intersting that aircraft size has so many fooled (even a a lot of pilots !). Many would be shocked if they heard of U.S. domestic 757 captains with 3000 total hours and F/O's with 500, but for some reason with RJ's, it's not so surprising. Many are just as suprised to hear of pilots with 10-15,000 hours flying RJ's (I have 16,000) as they now many assume they're all inexperienced kids.
Crazy.