If it actually takes 6 months to be able to touch the controls- they shouldn't be pilots at all.
You've obviously never tried to fly a 20-series Lear at 300 hours total time coming straight out of a Duchess and/or 172.
Flying the CRJ is like flying a Baron compared to flying the Lear. The quote from AbleOne is most accurate: "Razor sharp pitch control, split-second decision-making". It's not that it's a hard airplane to fly, it's that it can get away from even a seasoned pilot if your attention is diverted for even 2 seconds.
New pilots just don't have the scan to keep up with the airplane when you're taking off empty at 50 degrees OAT with only 3,500 lbs of fuel on board because you're doing your last leg home and it's CAVU and only a 20 minute flight. To be more specific, my last flight like this had a 1,500 ft displaced threshold. We were airborne before we reached the Fixed Distance Marker (less than a 2,000 foot takeoff roll) and cleared 10,000 feet AGL before the end of the runway in the climb.
Then, when you level off at 10,000, if you don't bring the power back aggressively (from 97% to 70% or so), it will go from 200 kts to red line (307) in less than 10 seconds, then the overspeed horn is screaming at you, plus you're fighting just to hold your altitude as the pitch changes with the center of pressure movement along the chord.
No, I'm not exaggerating. The only other aircraft that perform like it are the G-2 (and the MU-2 for roll rate but not climb speed). Period. It's NOT a good airplane to make a transition into the turbine world, much less the jet world, but they catch up... eventually.
THAT'S why Argus (insurance) minimums for 20-series Lear Captains are DOUBLE what they are for 30- and later series Lear Captains and why the DoD won't allow any pilots on DoD contracts that don't have 250 hours in type for the Lear, but will take 100 in the Falcon.
Joe, I work for Kalitta. They're just being safe, realizing that the pilots are qualified and checked per the FAA, but that they're not ready for many of the flight situations they're going to get and want the CA to fly until the F/O's are good and comfortable with the PNF aspects before they start trying to mix a new aircraft, new operation type, high-altitude airspace nav, and high-density ATC work with flying an aircraft that averages 200-300% faster in all phases of flight than they're used to.
That's also why many regional airline FOM's state not only that the CA is the final authority as to who flies, but also that although it is customary to swap legs, the CA is under no obligation to do so if he/she deems it necessary for the safety of flight (straight out of the PCL FOM).
I'm a firm believer that to be an Airline Pilot, you should have to possess an Airline Transport Pilot license, including the minimum flight times to obtain it. Go build time where you're not risking the flying public. I did, so did many others; it's called "paying your dues", and I don't mean with Daddy's wallet (or a student loan you can't possibly hope to pay back for at least a decade or more).