Why is mandating a minimum level of experience 'heavy handed'? Should we do away with minimum hours altogether and let the airlines decide? Let them decide who sits in the left seat, who sits in the right seat, how many hours they can fly each week or each month? Remove the 'heavy hand' altogether?
The only reason this is 'government interference' is that it interferes with the airline's ability to get pilots at the minimum wage. God forbid they should have to pay what they're worth.
Dawg, you are correct.
My Post 23 addresses the 1500hr thing but adds that this is by design to demand pilots achieve greater proficiency. . .meaning earning an ATP at 1500hrs means the pilot has greater skills than a 1500hr commercial rated pilot.
From the article:
Both pilots involved in the Colgan crash had far surpassed 1,500 hours of flight time, so it wouldn’t have prevented the accident. And the new requirement is all the worse because, as Lovelace says, it was “not based on science,” but was rather “a political decision. And it doesn’t matter whether you think it’s good or not. The only way it’s going to change is literally an act of Congress.”