You're dead wrong. I know it's hard for you to accept that they are flying those wide bodies (OK 75 is not), but don't underestimate their flying skills. On the other hand, if they ARE flying 75s and 74s like any other pilot is flying them, then why need thousands or hours? It becomes quite irrelevant, doesn't it? You don’t have to be
BA doesn’t hire for ‘Cruise Relief Pilot’. You’re hired as a First Officer and trained as a First Officer. Yes, Cathay and few Asian, and perhaps few others, do hire in to that category, but not BA. If they change that policy, then I’m not aware of it. But, still they have many very young pilots who they hire with lot less time than the average US pilot candidate.
Perhaps you had to bust your balls for many thousands of hours before you got your first airline gig, but it doesn’t mean everyone has to. The Law of Supply and Demand would dictate that. And, statistically, there’s no proof that the regional or major airliners start to fall out of the sky as soon as the pilot demand picks up for the 121 carriers and they start looking at candidates with much less experience then they had hired in the recent past.
