Shortly after upgrading to the right seat on the Boeing 767/757 in the 1980s, I had the good fortune to fly with the No. 1 captain on American Airlines’ seniority list. He was a gracious man, the type of captain that never allowed a copilot to take a wallet out on a layover. His flying skills and judgment set a standard to which I aspired. He had been hired with less than 500 hours of total flight time. Say whaaat?
Yup, in the early 1960s, the combination of World War II vets retiring at the mandatory age of 60, the beginning of the jet age, and the expansion of routes left airlines with pilot applicants that were less experienced.
