The 1500 hours and an ATP AMEL certificate requirement is written in blood.
The US industry was in the same state as today's European Air Transport market, overextended junior pilots with barely 500 hours flying 8 segments a day getting paid 25.000 to 30.000$ a year was the norm in regional or subsidiary airlines.
A couple of deadly crashes and the involvement o politicians changed that.
Today, getting a job under part 121, requires the pilot to have an ATP AMEL, but before having that, the requirement is to take an ATP/CTP preparatory course with 30 hours of GS in subjects like CRM, high altitude phsiology and others, plus 12 hours in a simulator of an over 40.00lbs type.
Yet they are running out of pilots at the bottom.
Shall Europe catch up? Where is the PIC formation mentality?