I've said it before and I say again, there is NO substitute for many thousands of hours experience gained in GA or elsewhere before entering the airlines.
In my opinion, highly trained LOW time f/o's should never be preferred over highly trained f/o's with several thousand hours under their belt.
I'm not saying low timers can't get the job done safely when trained properly, but those who have had to make years of command decisions in GA, will always have that experience edge over some newcomer straight out of the academy/factory/school.
Experience is not something you get in 1 or 2 years, it takes many years of exposure to real life situations operating in many different environments.
This debate will likely go on forever and a day as the keen newly trained, low time f/o's maintain they can get the airline job done as safely and as efficiently as the the guy with 'x' thousands of hours gained in the "real world" ie; charter/freight/RPT/military/aeromed etc. Let's hope our enviable safety record remains intact over the next few years !
I know who I'd prefer my family sitting behind if/when the brown stuff hits the fan !
