Originally Posted by
FlyJSH
Imagine this: Tomarrow your chief pilot comes to you and says, "We need another CA and you are next in line." Would you take it? Sure you would (you admitted that you took the opportunity to fly a regional airline vs a CFI job, you took the regional). So there you are, a fresh CA in a new base (maybe on a new aircraft) with a FO fresh off of IOE. The wx is crap. Would you rather have someone who has a few hundred hours flying a 310 single pilot or a 300 hour "just got my commercial AMEL"?
No, hours alone doesn't describe the quality of a pilot, but higher hours does typically mean a broader background. There is no one way to measure a pilot's ability, but if all I had to look at a resume, seeing some CFI time and some 135 time would put that applicant on my list of interviews.
for the record if I was offered an upgrade or a pic position in the airplane I fly now or any other 121 airplane for that matter, I would decline it. That's one of the many reasons I declined my interview at MESa a couple years back. I was hearing that they were upgrading guys at 1500 hrs and throwing em to the wolves. I'd rather sit over in the right seat and get a little more experience under my belt( go through a few more icy winters and stormy summers) before all the responsibilty was on my shoulders, and my ceftificates, my career, and most importantly people's lives are on the line.