I am really split on what to think of this whole debate. Going with the opinion of Scroggs / Lucifer, the essence of the debate is that airlines are taking pilots straight out of integrated training who have developed skills in a "high pressure time limited environment, with extra capacity available" In other words, a pilot with perhaps 250 ish hours, a new TR and JOC etc etc.
This notion is nonetheless very unfamiliar and unaccepted in other regions of the world (such as where I am working now - see location) Apart from squeezing the self improvers into such a corner that they have little to no chance of getting in with the major carriers, out here there is much impetus put on skills proved through
actual flight experience. Granted you may have developed your basic skills with a highly reputable school and even have a TR but that still will not cut the grade. In a situation such as my own, my first 750hrs post CPL/ME/IR after qualifying was pretty hellish at times with a huge learning curve - flying middle weight piston twins around western Canada in a commercial op. Believe me, the weak pilots with poor decision skills and the inability to think outside the box are weeded out very quickly.
Just a life saver for those self improvers / instructors working in a small commercial ops...keep at it...
