After I had paid for my TR on the 737, I was lucky enough to find a job assisted by my training provider. Our course was due to go to an operator straight from TR, who changed their mind due to a lack of experience on type. As you can imagine, none of us were too happy about this. It took 6 months to get a job after that. Throughout that time we never fully understood the delay, and that is particularly with reference to experience on type.
It is only now, as I come to the end of my line training, that I can really appreciate why airlines seek the experience. Training a zero hour on type pilot to fly the 'line' is a huge under taking. The training requirements and logistics of providing trainers are massive. Your actual ability and the near vertical learning curve is even more demanding. It makes the TR seem like a walk in the park. It is fantastic; you are out there doing the job you have trained for, but there is just so much more to it that I could have ever imagined, and that you could not have trained for. It really is down to experience. I can also see now why it is a real gamble for operators, and why they have, in certain cases, such rigorous selection processes.
There are of course operators who will take the new TR pilot and train them. I am fortunate enough to be with one of them, but they are few and far between.
It is definitely something you should be considering when considering a SSTR.
