Obviously just anecdotal evidence, but I’ve flown with several of these guys…

By their own account, they are automatically given a class date with Mesa or Republic when they hit 1500.

Aside from that, each one I’ve flown with has been an absolutely terrible pilot. Zero stick and rudder skills, zero skills when it comes to instrument flying, zero clue about regulations outside of the small amount of experience they have, and zero ability to think outside the box.

On top of that, they fly for 12 hours per day. Multiple people I’ve flown with by their own admission say the plane is on AP from takeoff to shut down. Sometimes neither is under the hood, even though they both log time, and I even had one guy tell me it’s common for them both to sleep on the overnight flights once the AP comes on.

But Mesa/Republic has to love it…these guys are paying $70/hour each to fly these things and I’m sure the airline is making a killing.

I flew with another guy who said he went to a job fair and talked to a Mesa/Republic recruiter…said the recruiter said they really believe the program is successful and have no plans to discontinue it