Well, my point is moot! I got the call from Flexjet, so I won't have to find out if flying the frasca really helps me be a better CRJ pilot? Good luck to all the 600 hour wunderkinder out there flying for Northwest!
I don't know which is worse, and I've flown at both carriers.
Flexjet WAS a GREAT place to work pre-1999 (before AA sold back their interest to Bombardier). Wasn't planning on leaving, but then it turned from a great place into a sh*t sandwich.
Tell Rick H I said to bite my bender... still haven't decided whether or not to sue him and Flexjet for slander, but that's a longer story.
Back on topic, Crown, I'm sure you're a capable F/O, but like Turbo said, don't get cocky. The WORST thing about the wunderkids was that they didn't know what they lacked in terms of general airmanship. The only time I ever had to take the airplane in 5 years at PCL was from GIA poster boy. Most of them came to be excellent pilots and later, Captains, but the majority of them should never, in my professional opinion, have ever been there at their low experience level.
I agree completely with one of the other posters: an ATP should be a basic, minimum requirement to be employed at a Part 121 air carrier, flag or supplemental. The problem isn't a shortage of pilots, the problem is a shortage of pilots willing to go to work for 14, 16, or 18k a year and the abundance of high school grads willing to fork out 50, 60, or 75k for the privilege of taking just that kind of job.
3701 is a perfect example of how bad things happen when you mix bad judgment (PIC) with extremely low time (SIC) who wasn't aware of the danger he was in until it was too late. I flew with him the month before it happened; great kid, terrible tragedy, all avoidable if he had been seasoned enough to put a stop to the stupidity.
Argue all you want, there's NO substitute, ZERO, ZILCH, NADA, no training whatsoever equivalent to EXPERIENCE.