1500 hours is maybe arbitrary, but 1500 (and 200+ ME) hours also used to be the point where you could get a call from a regional back in the day... maybe they knew something back then. I'd say 1000 is the bare min, and that checks with R-ATP numbers (750 is fine for mil, since their process is quite rigorous compared to a low-time civilian pilot).

the 1500 hour rule was nothing more than a gift to the unions by Obama... it had NOTHING to do with safety

The whole concept of the '1500 hr' rule is misleading. Its requiring the second pilot to have some kind of ATP, which is a 1500 hr requirement standard for the full certificate. There are already huge reductions built in (1250, 1000 for 141 programs, 750 for mil) for the R-ATP that allow regionals to shortcut the actual idea of a full ATP pilot in the right seat.

No further reductions to further de-skill the right seat. We don't want $18k/250 hr/pay for training FOs again. Thats what the commuter airlines want to do to reduce their costs. No thanks!

We’re part of the problem.
Half the threads here are about the fastest way to get to a jet, the employers with the shortest upgrades, how do I get there with the least amount of work etc etc etc…
The other half are COVID lol.

Absolutely. I don’t get the disconnect some people have with this. Everyone who is a current airline pilot in this country, especially regional pilots, should fight hard to keep this rule in place. Whether someone thinks it is arbitrary from a practical standpoint is really a moot point.

Allegheny and Piedmont didn't have pay for training either. But you needed 2500 hours TT, 500 ME, and a lunar landing to qualify. To fly a 37 seat Dash 8.
I went from flying freight in a Cessna 402 every night to a Jetstream 31 - a 19 seat turboprop with a 230 knot redline. That thing ate my lunch when I first started. I had close to 2000 TT and over 500 ME. The training cost $10,000 and you weren't "officially" hired until you passed the checkride. I honestly have ZERO problem with the 1500 hour rule. The more you see... the more experiences you have with weather, and shoddy maintenance, and all four seasons... the more times you have to tell the boss or the customer "No" in the interest of safety... the better an airline crewmember you will be.

No, it isn't too much to ask that an airline pilot hold an airline transport pilot certificate.

Two thumbs up for the 1500 hour rule. Don't bother to come without some real weather, real flying and real decision making experience. There's also going to be a lot of 1000 hour upgrades around the corner, and those upgrades shouldn't be counted on to do both jobs combined with a distraction in the cockpit.

If the airlines have to charge $1.00 more per plane ticket to get a 1500 hour pilot in the right seat, so be it.

The 1,500 hour rule was the best thing to ever happen to regional pay. Get lost with that idea.

Going to be? That ship has sailed. AA wholly-owneds have been forcing upgrades for a while, and yes, quite a sizeable amount at 1000 SIC.