Pilot licensing.

[JeppsOnFire]

Like most, I have flown with both.
This is what I've seen - the ones straight out of college into a jet: in a short time, they are really quite impressive with the automation and FMS. I mean that as high praise. They can smoothly manage the airplane in all phases, and can accept and react efficiently to ATC requests promptly and correctly (including FMS). They don't have past experience with any, perhaps older, forms of GPS so there is no tendency to try to do something different or 'better'. It is really impressive.
The ones with cold hard 703/704 experience are similarly able. I don't see much difference in their ability to manage the airplane. Getting them to use the automation to its full intent is often more challenging.
The biggest differences I've seen are:
1. Big picture. The 250hr folks have such narrow experience, they only know what they've seen in the sim. Example, I had a small-ish problem in the sim and they were on a hair-trigger to shut that engine down. However, the wx was at mins (of course) and I wanted to keep the engine running at idle in case we needed it or the accessory items it backed up (checklist did not demand a shutdown). They never considered the weather or what an idle engine could provide.
2. Due to lack of experience, the 250hr folks lack confidence, as they should because they have little experience to back themselves up. If they were very confident, with little experience, I would question that. They do have trouble asserting themselves, especially in the many grey areas of aviation. Example of inexperienced confidence, in the sim, we were over high terrain and we had to initiate an emergency descent, I requested the FO to 15K in the altitude preselect and he confidently thought it was best to put 12,500 to get us into VFR altitudes. That altitude, however, put us lower than some of the terrain and I had to override his opinion.
3. And of course, hands and feet. The 250hr folks simply do not handle the airplane the same way as the experienced people when the automation is off and during tough landings. Example, gusty crosswinds with a swept wing jet can be a bit of work and I find that the lower time guys seem to fly it to 50ft and Vref then just kind of give up and let it decide how to land.


Of course, that's my experience and I share it for discussion only. I realize there are many exceptions.

[vanNostrum]

Would a 250 hrs FO be able to take command and bring the plane safely back with 200 passengers seating in the back , in crapy weather ,gusty x winds  if the Captain became incapacitated or dies?

[Liquid Charlie]

certainly with all the automation he could make it back on the ground, why not? and of course the captain is past caring --

[Chuck Ellsworth]

John Swallow::::


From my own experience number two is best and number four is the worst.


Airline flying is like watching paint dry and number five is quite good as long as it is not at a flight school.


If you want the ultimate flying job it would be aerial application flying a helicopter....that is right up there with being in charge of quality control at the bunny ranch.