FANTASTIC...maybe we should build an Ark waiting for the floodgates ;-) Can't wait!!

So anywho - About those upgrade times - I can guarantee I wouldn't be ready for Captain at TSA with those mins...it's scary to think guys are gonna go for it too...they had tons wash out with higher mins, and now they've dropped upgrade training to FOUR sim sessions. Eek...!

I really don't think the reduced upgrade mins will have much effect. Seniority will still be the important factor. I think the next two or three months will see lots of people upgrading at close to those minimums but after that it will drift back to about two years.

they lowered the upgrade mins at pncl (2500TT) and still cant fill CA spots. The joke is that FO's will be Junior Manned into upgrade class.... lower mins doesnt mean more people will head that way.

Wow.. I knew that the advertised mins were 250/25, but I had no idea they were actually taking people at those times... Scary stuff... I just hope no one gets hurt.

Same here. I always thought there was a difference between posted mins and competitive mins. Apparently not at TSA. Hey Saab, just out of curiosity, what times would be competitive over there at XJT?

-Ben

I originally posted this in another thread but this thread seems like a good one to restate the obvious.

"For what it's worth, there are many FO's out there flying the line for the airlines with 1000's of hours in jets over many years, that do not feel comfortable in upgrading because they do not feel that they know enough or feel comfortable in "The Final Authority" role cast upon the PIC.

These professional pilots are much more realistic when it comes to knowing their own skill-set than do many of these lower-time pilots. The ones I'm specifically talking about are the ones who mention upgrade time in their post when all they have is 350/25. I bet many of you would freak out if the captain of an RJ had to go to the bathroom while in flight and you now had to become the sole operator of the plane."

Well, that CRJ reposition flight that got sloppy at 410 and flamed the engines out had (in comparison with the new reduced hiring minimums) "experienced" pilots in it (not if you read the transcript...something about the word "dude used a lot gives me the chills) So what's going to happen with these reduced hiring minimums? Probably not a repeat of that scenario - perhaps super low time people might be too timid to try that. But then there's all sort of other gotcha's.....

Assuming the CA woke me up to tell me they were leaving...
:D

Personally, I was a 500-hr newbie in the RJ when my first Captain off IOE took the walk-of-shame. Didn't even phase me in the least (actually remembered enjoying it - smiled a lot to myself LoL), but I never even thought about it until I read your post. I wonder - what do most low-timers feel like as the sole manipulator in a case like that??

First, those experienced pilots didn't have common sense.

Secondly, they didn't understand the systems on the airplane and how to get the APU to actually start the engines on the CRJ after a flame out.
This is why systems study is important, and should be taken seriously and brushed up on often. (More often that every 6mo. for a Captain and year for an FO.)