When I got hired at a regional in the early 2000's with 3000 hrs, the ground instructors were telling us how lucky we were because in their day, competitive times were around 7000 hrs.

Yikes! 7000? I think 3000 is bad enough. I don't really think its worth it at that point to accumulate all those hours just to get into a crap regional job. Bravo to you guys for sticking it out that long.

The 2 instructors that told our class that, were probably referring to the 80's I'm guessing? When "regional" fleets were made up of twin otters, metroliners, jetstreams, and similar. I'm sure the pay was just as crappy back then too.

I think this why they are testing the waters with this program. We can safely assume those same 3,000 pilots are on file at AA, UAL, DAL, SWA, FedEx and UPS. 3,000 applicants can evaporate in a few years.

Regarding the program, it looks like a military style program. I'm sure they will turn out well trained pilots but the leap from DA 40 instructor to EMB190 FO is going to be enormous. I feel sorry for the captains they will fly with for the first year. I can't even imagine how much IOE they will need. I'm guessing 3 months with a Checkairman at least. This will be fun to watch...from a distance.

Yikes.....

Republic used brand new FOs, fresh off the Cessna flight line, to populate 190 Frontier flying. This was before the 1500 hour rule even went in to effect. I know a guy whose kid went over there at 700 flight hours and got 600 hours of 190 time in his first year.....and he didn't crash once!

Get off your high horses and stop playing right into managements hands: First of all, they aren't going to get that many people to begin with. Right now management is more than ecstatic to see how much of a bargaining chip it has become towards the new CBA.

Just as an aside to this point, I stepped out of a C172 into a Category D Approach Jet(CRJ200) without any issues at all. IOE was completed on time as well in one week without the need for additional/extra hours. I believe if the aptitude and attitude is there, which are supposedly being screened for then they should do fine.

I do concur though that there are many "qualified" applicants currently, that negate the current need for folks in that respect.

-2263

What's the difference between flying a 190/737/320 for your first jet as compared to a 175/CRJ? If they're well trained and instruct in an airline oriented training program, there shouldn't be any difference in how they perform at JB as compared to a regional where most of us make that initial jet transition.

Here we go again. We went through this in the early 90s with the regionals and it did not worked too well. It will just be a matter of time before they'll realize it's not a good idea. The sad thing is they are a few fools out there that will pay the $125K for such program.