Originally Posted by hughw

there's something also a little odd about this situation and that is the pilot was in his mid forties and this was his first (if I'm not mistaken) job in commercial aviation. I have absolutely no problem with mainline pilots in their 50s or 60s, but here's a guy who obviously has kicked around the bottom rungs of general aviation with a rather undistinguished career. In this day and age, my understanding is that it is pretty tough to be hired as a pilot even at the slave wages paid by express type airlines like Colgan. Why are they not hiring the best and the brightest they can find?