Originally Posted by
BIrwin
Not making a value judgment, but it seems to me that the norm through much of the 90's was close to 500 hours to get a good full-time flight instructor job, and 1500-2000 hours+ to get in with a regional (some exceptions exist such as GLA). In many cases it took several thousand hours to get a "good" regional job (decent pay & no Pay For Training). There was never an expectation to fly a jet aircraft right out of school. Many of those hired by the regional airlines already had some PIC experience in a 135 environment, in all weather flying.
Yeah, but in the 60's MAJORS were hiring people with nothing more than a private pilot license.... "Experience" Seems to be based upon hiring demands. Some of the scariest pilots that I have ever flown with in my 10 years of flying were at the top of our seniority list, with buckets of time. Although I feel that experience is important, I believe that good decision making, quality leadership, and a centralized focus upon SAFETY is far better. I would personally rather fly with a 250 hour pilot who exhibits these traits and strives to meet them, than ANY of the 10k hour pilots that dont. Just my 2 cents.