It is my observation that most people think their path to this job is the best/only way here. Somehow we all believe we deserve to move straight to the left seat of a 747 because "damnit, look at all the stuff I've gone through!" I'm going to take the unpopular view and say I think this new regulation is a good idea for many reasons.
Yes, I was hired into the right seat of an RJ at 660 hours. I was very lucky to be in that position. I wasn't there because I had some sort of great ability as a pilot, but because the pool of qualified applicants had dried up. I was hired because I had a pulse. Training was hard, but ASA has a great training department who knew what kind of pilots they were dealing with and taught accordingly.
Needing 1500 hours to be hired at a regional is not an abnormal thing. It is my understanding that low timers going straight to the right seat is not how this industry has worked for most of its existence. I understand that it is a few more hoops to jump through, but I don't think that's a bad thing.
Look at a the advertising for most of the flight schools out there. How many market themselves on the quality of their instruction vs. how quickly they can get you a job? Look at how most people (myself included) study for FAA written exams. Teach the test vs. actually having a solid grasp on the material. The system is broken.
1500 hours is a drop in the bucket. If this rule came into effect when I was still a flight instructor, it would have slowed me down by a year at the most. I know it doesn't seem like it while you are still training, but hours pile up quickly once you are doing it professionally. On top of that you're getting paid. More importantly you are gaining experience. I wouldn't say that I was a "good" pilot until I was actively working as a flight instructor for a few months. Until that point, every check ride was an unsure thing. Sure I had performed all the maneuvers adequately in the past, but who knows how the check ride would turn out. Now, the flying part of the check ride is the easy part. I own the airplane, it does what I want it to do. All the time.
Then there is the ATP course in the NPR. I fail to see how being required to learn about multi crew environments, high speed/altitude aerodynamics, etc that are required for this job is a bad thing. There are a lot of things that transfer over from a light GA airplane to flying a jet/turboprop. But there are also a lot of things that you will have had zero experience with. This is an entirely different kind of flying altogether.
This rule won't stop anyone who is truly motivated to to this for a living. If you really have a passion for flying, the extra education will actually be a good experience, as long as you make it a point to slow down and enjoy the journey. However, there are a lot of people who simply want to be an airline pilot for the title. They're the ones who will be weeded out. If we're truthful with ourselves, this job isn't currently that difficult to attain. The most difficult part is the financial aspect of it. If you have money/credit and a little persistence, anybody can find a job at a regional.
I think that is part of why this profession has become what it is today. In the past this profession was filled with people who were passionate about the job, always trying to increase their skills. But now there are a lot of people in our ranks who do this simply because "they thought it would be cool." I hope that these will be the ones that are weeded out. Not to sound like one to pull up the ladder, I think decreasing the quantity but increasing the quality of the pilot pool in this country will lead to good things.
