1100 hours in a 172? Who knows.


But maybe if he got another 1100 hours with experienced Captains when he was an FO?


For example -
The CVR captured First Officer Shaw remarking that she didn't want to upgrade until she spent a winter in the right seat. Her classmates hoped to upgrade sooner. Why are guys at some airlines upgrading in a year?


You wouldn't fret over seeing ice for the first time sitting next to a seasoned Captain. But what if you're seeing ice for the first time, and your Captain is only seeing it for the third time?


Remember Sully (or whoever) saying that a pilot starts with a bag full of luck and gradually replaces it with experience?


If you're going from 400 hours to the left seat, learning from third-year Captains, who learned from their third-year Captains, and so on... you have inexperience inbreeding inexperience.


That's a whole lot of pilots flying around with bags kinda full of luck.