The FAA has denied Republic Airways' request that graduates of its in-house training program called Leadership in Flight Training (LIFT) be allowed to become first officers with 750 hours of flight experience rather than the mandatory 1500 hours for most candidates. The agency allows military or ex-military pilots to take the right seat with 750 hours because of the high level of training they get in the military. In its application for a similar exemption for its LIFT graduates, Republic argued it would match or exceed the military standards and that pilots would be trained from the outset for the airplane they would end up flying. But the FAA decided Republic didn't make its case well enough. "The FAA finds that the supporting materials and LIFT historical data does not sufficiently support Republic's claim that the Republic R-ATP Program is sufficiently comparable to the training program of a military branch to warrant a reduction in flight hours."
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