Hey there Send Clowns,
Well just to burst your bubble a little.
FAA requirments to be PIC of air taxi are 750TT and not sure how much PIC for VFR operations.
For Air Taxi IFR:
Minimum of at least 1,200 hours of flight time as a pilot,
including 500 hours of cross country flight time, 100 hours of night flight time, and 75 hours of actual or simulated instrument time at least 50 hours of which were in actual flight.
They sometimes but not always require you to have an ATPL for insurance.
Not many VFR operations unless you do the Grand Canyon Tours.
The way you build time air taxi is by the same route as JAA I guess by being FO, getting your time up and getting command.
You usually start by being FO on a King Air or B-1900, after that you will then command a C-208B (usually single pilot cargo). Then when enough hours move back to King air or B-1900 for command and typing if required.
The regionals here are now hiring when you have about 1000TT and 100 multi. Then you would go to either a B-1900 Dash8, Saab 340 or RJ.
So I guess in that sense there is not alot of difference.
Still think that in the JAA there are too many people jumping into aircraft at 250hrs that should not be there.
I am not saying that these people should be instructors either as if someone doesn't want to do it then they should be able to do something else. Such as FO in air taxi, or pipe line or traffic reporting.
The only problem with this in the US is that it has led to Pay For Training (PFT). As people want to by-pass the hard work stage and buy their way out.
I personnally think that is prostitution and is letting down the industry as a whole. But I think that has been covered in depth elsewhere.
Anyways better get back to what I was doing
Do you know how the Single engine IFR regs are doing when I was back their in December they were still trying to get it all sorted out.
It may give people more options to get a job like here I guess.
Well have a good weekend one and all
-273
P.S You mention the one guy in command of the jet I think that would be the rare exception here. Unless it was a private company and there was some nepetism going on.