I wonder where the ever raising "standard" requirements will stop?
First it was the MCC, then the SSTR, now line training. The problem is that the more that wannabes shell out for these extras, the higher the bar to entry gets raised. Now this notion of needing 500 hours of line time crops up. The faster they run, the faster the hare goes.
Someone will come up with a scheme to get you 500 hours of line time. In response, airlines will want an unfrozen ATP, so then someone comes up with another scheme...
I can't see it going on for ever though. Like a few other folks, I sadly foresee an incident at some point in the not too distant future where these pay to play schemes will be thrust into the forefront of public discussion and maybe, just maybe, this progression of scheme/countermeasure will be curtailed.
How about this for a future advertising slogan - "All of our flight crew are paid professionals"?
That said, I should add I'm not trying to put these folks down. I just despise that this is creating an industry where the barrier to entry is based on money rather than aptitude.