I copied the following from a post in another forum. I think this is very well said:
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Is ALPA really suggesting that we water down the most significant opportunity to place real value on our experience for the sake of unnamed, faceless, non-dues paying future pilots that may or may not actually be interested in applying for a low paying airline pilot job? A job that has already been devalued in part due to ALPAs selling out of high paying major airline pilot pilot jobs for low paying regional pilot jobs?
Why are some of us more interested in protecting pilots that technically don't even exist at the expense of those that have sacrificed now for decades?
If the FAA wanted to create an instant pilot shortage crisis by making the new hire requirement 10,000 hours, making us such a hot commodity that we were instant millionaires, should ALPA still fight for the rights of pilots to be qualified at 500 hours?
Seriously, who is ALPA supposed to protect, long time dues paying members or fledgeling pilots that may someday pay 2% of a $25,000 salary?
Piloting experience will ALWAYS be a subjective value. One can argue endlessly back and forth about whether how many total hours, military vs civilian, Purdue vs Riddle, are better than another. Ultimately, it is the actual PILOT that is the true measure of ability and expertise. Some pilots, (myself included) were not able to become military pilots not due to ability, but rather due to the arbitrary fact that they didn't have 20/20 uncorrected vision.
Many of us have flown with pilots with tons of experience that are weak pilots that have been advanced by the system, or flown with a (maybe low time) gifted pilot that has natural instincts. That being said, the more total HOURS a pilot has, the better chance he/she has been tested enough to show a record or pattern of success or failure.
So why carve out special exceptions based upon someone's arbitrary bias of who makes a better pilot at how many hours? All pilots are born with their own level of natural abilities, and while some training may be better than others, the pilot still is a human being that is limited by his/her own ability. Having a high level of hours for entry allows for more time and more checkrides for that person to be evaluated for their ability to fly millions of passengers over their career.
So ALPA wants to protect military pilots that may want to apply for airline jobs in the future. How does that possibly advance my career and how does that justify all the dues that I pay?