Flapsfull
3 months ago, I had a similiar attitude towards FR as you. I must say that after having logged 150 hours with them (in 1.5 months!) it has changed a bit. There are still aspects about the operation that I do not agree with, but to think that it is a 'cowboy' outfit is not correct. SOPs are quite extensive and would trap many errors. They have recruited a lot of low time pilots and SOPs do reflect this experience level. I have not flown with one pilot yet that was unsafe in any manner or acted like a cowboy. Everyone was as sound as any pilot I have flown with in my career. You get paid well and you work hard for it. I am only here on a short term contract, and have not yet decided if it is my cup of tea, but it is as good a workplace as anywhere else. Also, in the nature of flying to offbeat airports you get plenty of handling experience and fly loads of circling and other non precision approaches. The copilots scale is only three years, so you can expect to be put through a command process fairly soon after passing 3000 hours. In SAS and other national flag carriers you are looking at at least 7-8 years to command. The equipment is brand new, in the past week I have flown aircraft with 20, 60 and 110 hours total time on three of my days work.
Rumours are that Skavsta will named the latest continental hub in January.
DB