Originally Posted by
AXE758
I still believe that "magical" 1500 hours counts for something. You miss my point. Yes we can all tell specific stories of this "750 hour pilot" that I know who is lots better than this other "1500 hour pilot" I know. What I am talking about is in the BIG picture, if you are selecting from a pool of pilots who has 1500 hours and an ATP or better as opposed to a pool that has 300 hours or better, the OVERALL level of quality and quality of experience is higher. This to me = safer. It raises the level of the quality of the base (on the average-yes we can all find specific examples where this is not true) on which that 121 experience will be built.
Yes, as you mentioned flying the new 121 FO's with experienced Captains for a time period is a great idea as well.
Agreed. My only contention with requiring an ATP is that we would potentially be bypassing candidates that are as if not more qualified just because they haven't reached that 1,500 hour mark.