Yes, you can join with less hours than what I stated however, since the flying rate is somewhere between 200-500 hours a year (depending), you're looking at 2-3 years at least before you'll have the hours for command.
As I am not part of NJE I do not know what are the requirement for command. From the few sources I have I understand that average hrs flown in one year is 300-ish on the small/medium fleet with the Line Trainers flying a bit more.
The FO I spoke recentlty was on his 10th sector since Jan so I guess the pace is even slower right now. However his opinion was that NJE is trying to retain as many crew as they can in order to be ready for the upturn when is comes (if it does...
). I think you are in the best position to confirm that there were very quick LHS transitions in the past but they might be long gone by now...
Wishing well
PZ
