Why should it be reduced at all? I thought the whole point was to ensure that we have experienced pilots up front? Sure, the Aviation Science guys know a lot of the theory, but who'd you rather send your family with, a pilot who can say "been there, done that" or "read the book, passed the class"?

I think that you should be required to have your ATP and 1500hrs across the board. Is there any way ALPA can fight this proposed exception? If we're going to raise the standards, we should do it properly.