what is the likelihood of a regional FO getting selected for screening these days?
EFC,
I'm assuming when you say 'regional' that you're taking CRJs. If this is the case then the chances are still good. Many of the US pilots and recent FOs are ex-regional drivers (mostly CRJs) and I've certainly not heard of anything to say the Company has stopped recruiting them. The only bit of advice I would give is don't hang around too much longer if you are serious about applying for the job. Rumour has it that 'they' are after the magic number of 240 pilots for AJX. We're standing at around 210 at the moment and that doesn't include the courses in ground school etc. They've gone pretty hard over the last year and there are lots more new faces on the block, so I would think that recruitment and training will slow down again in the not-too-distant future as we reach that critical (to someone) number of 240. After that, I hear, then it'll just be recruiting to cover attrition (which is not high).
GT,
You're right and I think the contract companies should stop telling people they'll upgrade in the first contract. I think in the future that it is very unlikely anyone will upgrade in the first 5 years. Of course, this is not want future joiners want to hear but far better they come here with realistic expectations. Having said all that, if you've come from something like a CRJ and are complaining about a widebody command taking 7 years then I think you need to take a good, hard look at the real world. In light of a couple of recent cases I reckon the 'not in the first contract' limit would also give AJX a good chance to say, 'thanks for coming and good luck with future jobs' while handing someone their final pay check and getting rid of a pilot who they don't really want to keep but are almost forced to by virtue of the fact that they invested in sticking the person in the left seat. The same goes for the pilot too, of course.