Very good response from Pete.
In addition in 2 wind. The experience level in the cockpit is another obstacle that has to be dealt with. With an F/0 with 200 hrs of C172 and Duchess accompanied by a normal Line Captain who more than likely has spent considerable time in the right seat and hopefully more experience in other types. Do you think this combination is conducive to good CRM environment. To me sounds like a fromula for disaster, all of a sudden the Flight deck has become a single pilot version of itself.
You say that inexperienced guys can fly the plane and pass all the exams with flying colours. Yes, But experience will dictate wether he or she can handle emergency situations that occur outside the standard SOP Box. We can all follow SOPs, but when the "SH##T hits the FAN", experience and experiences can save a small problem festering into something large. Otherwise we would hire all inexperienced staff and not be worried about "reinventing the wheel" everytime a problem occurs.
Plus youll find it all depends in Insurance and your companies training policies.
Just my 2 cents worth
Sheep
P.S. A Carribean Airline has just revised its recruiting limits after having taken on a number of abinitio low timers 200hrs or so. They now only accept people with 750 or more.
It was due to some incidents where EXPERIENCED F/Os wouldve probably done ok.