It doesn't matter where they are from, any airline shouldn't hire anyone with 280TT!! I wouldn't wanna be in the back for that flight!

 

you guys are saying you don't want to be in the back for that flight, well honestly they aren't going to pass you in your training if you shouldnt be up there. plus you have a captain by your side, a first officer is basically a pilot in training, you have to learn sometime

 

I don't understand. So you guys mean Northwest Airlink is really hiring people with 250TT and multi? Their min says 1000 and 200 in their website. So is it just the Riddle and UND guys or everyone?

 

Thank you finally some one with a positive attitude about this. I think pilots should be glad that pilots are finally given some good opportuinities.

 

The flightdeck of a 121 airline is not the place to learn to fly. At 250 hours you are lucky that you know how to start your 172 by yourself. The captain is not supposed to be a flight instructor. Get your instructor rating and use it then you will understand what I am saying. It is hard enough trying to keep your students from killing you, there is no need to take 50-76 people along for the ride.

 

I bet you guys would have refused the job at 250TT if somebody offered it to you right?

The modern RJs are so user friendly that I'm not suprised they operate without incident even low time crews. If guys were doing single pilot Navajo flying at 250tt I'd be worried. Experienced pilots have their hands full operating single pilot in hard IMC, never mind when something goes wrong.

Regional SICs have dispatch, MX control and various other resources at their fingertips not to mention a fellow crewmember. With all the structured training and SOPs there aren't too many questions left when they hit the line. Times are changing, get used to it.

 

I would be careful saying that. You may have the skills but there is NO WAY at 250 hours that ANYONE has the experience to make the important decisions you will be confronted with daily. As an FO you have as much responsibility for that flight as the captain. You are expected to have the same skills as the captain (what if the captain croaks at FL350?). The reason there is a captain and the reason that person usually has more experience is that when a decision needs to be made, someone has to make it.

Personally, I wouldn't trust a 250 hour pilot to find his way out of the lav let alone configure the bleeds right for an APU inop departure or figure his way down when cleared for the approach 40nm out at 20,000 feet. That means a significant amount of the captain's attention will be spent looking over the shoulder of the "wonder kid". If you think 250 hour FOs is such a great idea just imagine being in the back of that RJ with a 250 hour wonder just off IOE paired up with a mediocre captain heading into a mountainous airport at night in a snow storm. Would you want your family in the back?

Besides the obvious issues, a 250 hour pilot doesn't have any good war stories to share over a beer. And if this is the wonder kid's first real job...oh boy...

 

An ATP gives you a license to give flight instruction by the way.

You must've been one sad student to have taken 250 hours to learn how to start an airplane.

In a dual pilot crew in a well equipped aircraft is probobly one of the best ways to gain experience. You have a captain with a ton of time to help you learn the ropes and guide you through learning. So at 250 time you are experienced enough to train others but not to fly as sic with someone with a lot more experience? That doesn't even make sense.

 

I'm on the fence with this one. I do think 250 hrs is a bit low to be flying 121. But, the majority of the hostility toward these guys is due to jealousy. I admit, I'm a little jealous when a guy gets hired with such low total time, but I don't blame him for seizing the opportunity. Everyone would. When I had 250hrs ( 3 years go) you could barely get a CFI job. The average instructor had 1000+. This was just before the regionals went crazy. I have a fair amount more than 250 hrs and have no idea how to configure bleeds for an APU. But, that's because I haven't been taught. Once taught that procedure, I'm sure a 1500 hr pilot won't perform it any better or worse than a 250 hr pilot. On the other hand, I do feel these low time guys don't have enough experience with weather, and IFR procedures into busy airports, etc. to be flying around 50 pax. It's really not fair to the Captains. But hey, if they can make it through training I'm sure they get up to speed rather quickly with the rest.

 

250 hour pilots don't belong in RJ's. Babysitting these sorts of guys shouldn't be part of the Captains job. Getting through training doesn't mean much. Training isn't real world. It's the real world experience and background a newbie brings to the table that helps, rather than hinders, the Captain.