At 900 hrs a year for 3 years +200hrs, that equals 2900hrs total, bearing in mind that F/O time counts 50% if im not mistaken, you would only just have an ATP, Things must work very differently in the UK! I will have to check up on that one. The likes of Cathay Pacific,emirates and most other airlines in the middle east regard that experience quiet highly. If you look at Cathay for instance, 95% of the south african pilots flying there were contract pilots, and a large percent of them were ross air pilots. Its not so much the 'contract flying' they dont like, its the operator you work for that says alot. All I am saying is contract flying builds you as a pilot, why miss out on it?