and what do you think is happening now? People graduating from schools and furloughed with no hopes of recall are already choosing other career paths (grad school, office jobs, etc.)

The notion that a 1500 hour pilot is going to be some miracle cure for regional life is absurd. I agree with you and everyone else in the 200 hour rat race argument, but there are many other issues on the table to making a job at a regional level safe and worth it that need to be addressed. The colgan pilots had over 5,000 hours total when they did something pretty stupid and killed people. The comair crash werent 200 hour wonders either. Try getting scope back to where it should be, adjusting work rules so there are no more "7:59" block days with 9 hour overnights, tightening standards departments, requiring 6 month sim rides for all crew members, increase line checks to align standards better. Until then you are only going to have someone go out and banner tow or fly a 152 around for 300-600 more hours and be in no better shape when he gets to dirtbag XYZ regional, makes nothing, commutes across the country and still shows up to work with a bad attitude, looking and acting unprofessionally and not taking the job serious. So now because some blowhard senator wants to increase regional hiring to a standard that it sees every down cycle, all of a sudden people are going to not have to make careers out of regionals, be compensated fairly and management will stop lining their pockets? Sounds like that could be a crappy and depressing Weird Al parody of John Lennons "imagine."

There are dozens of issues that need to be address and I have to disagree that this will be the miracle drug to airline happiness and competence. A start? I'm all for it, but until everyone starts pressing on all the issues and gets results, it's still going to be one big APC merry go round p*ssing contest of regional vs regional and the majors poking fun at spike haired 200 hour wonder RJ pilots.