..We don't have 6000-8000 jet-houred FOs (wish we did) but
a couple of ex-capts off civil Hercs and one ex-CRJ bloke from
the States. Trouble is they're rostered to babysit the Co's new
3000hr "captains" which is why its rare I ever fly with 'em.
And yep they could easily be capts tomorrow without batting
an eyelid. In fact it was one of the Herc jocks I hand-picked
as my FO for a charter to snow-bound Russia some time ago
since I have limited experience in blizzards ice and slush in
320s. What he didn't know about cold wx ops didn't matter.
There're only two other FOs in the system who weren't capts
of anything heavy but came with about 5000 FO hours ex-GA
(Metros, Merlins, etc), and did their jet endorsements out of
their own pocket prior to applying. Needless to say that these
blokes are also great (but again rarely flown with for similar
reasons).