Back in the dim past, which no-one under about sixty will remember, the UK CAA requirement for a CPL was 700 hours. That got you the LHS of an aircraft below 5,700 kg (12,500 lb in old money), or the RHS of something bigger. IIRC, the hours required for an ATPL were 1500(?). Unless you were lucky enough to be military, or managed a scholarship with someone like BA, that involved 45 hour to PPL, build up your hours any way you could, to 150, at which point you could become an instructor. Work for peanuts to get the magic 700. That was of course in the days when simulators were very much in their infancy, and couldn't replicate what they can now. However, it did mean that by the time a pilot was on the line, they had a good grounding in actually flying.
I'm sure the modern world is better and safer in many ways, but perhaps it's lost something along the way? Just saying.