The times may be low, but they weed out all but the very best. The guys I know that made it through are all very capable. Some of the low timers get sent to FlightSafety for Regional Jet Orientation, which includes 10 hours as PF and 10 hours PNF in a full motion ERJ145 sim. So you don't go to training without having a background.

If you want scary - look at places like Piedmont. They'll take you without a commercial multi. Just show up with your temporary Commercial SEL and have a pulse and on you go to Dash-8 training.

Quality over quantity. There are 1000+ hour pilots out there that have no business being where they are. So you can't say that someone with 400 hrs is a menace to the skies.

"So you can't say that someone with 400 hrs is a menace to the skies."

There are no absolutes, but I can say someone with 1000+ has more experience than someone with under 400. And it stands to make sense than the more experience one has, the better F/O one will be. There are always exceptions to the rule, though.

RJ courses are no substitute for flight time. There are seats to be filled, though, and it's interesting seeing the lengths the regionals will go to in a effort to see bodies in those seats. Lower mins, paying for RJ courses, signing bonuses. I'm afraid to ask what's next....

chimpanzees!

You can teach a monkey how to fly but you cant teach it to make a dicision.

agree, you actually got my point.

And you cant teach a monkey or a pilot how to spell.

Welcome to aviation, and i hope you like being in hotel rooms alone for birthdays, holidays and saturday nights.