An extra year? Try 5! How many hours of cross country does one need to get their ATP? 500! On average how many hours does a CFI train a student on cross country procedures? 5-7 hours. So if I do the math:
500 hours/5 hours of cross country per student=100 students
100 students X 40 hours each = 4000 hours??:dunno:
And, yes, there IS a 50nm rule.
Look, I'm all for mandating higher mins, I don't think that anyone belongs in a cockpit of an airline with less than 1500 hours. But the amount of flight time the Colgan pilots had very little or anything to do with what happened. Hell the captain had 3800 hours, and he was the one that screwed the pooch. They were fatigued, poorly paid, working two jobs, poorly trained.
Besides, how much safer will the airlines be if everyone got their ATP in a Duchess and then hopped immediately into a E-170 or a CRJ-900. I would soooo much rather have someone get their ATP on the jet that they're currently flying than, to have someone get it on an aircraft that has 1/8th the complication of a jet. It just doesn't make any sense!
In this case the ATP would be a gateway, not a qualifier, and all it serves is a distraction from the real issue. Crappy training, crappy QOL, and Crappy management.