None of this should be necessary but it is what it is due to government bureaucratic regulations.
- Will remove seats from some CRJ jets, reducing them to 30 seats.
- Will operate the flights as Skywest Charter, under Part 135 rules.
- Enables them to have first officers with less than 1,500 hours (the US is probably the only country in the world that requires that number of hours)
- Enables experienced, retired pilots age 65 and up to continue flying.
Source: SkyWest Plans To Remove Seats From Bombardier CRJs To Help Alleviate Pilot Shortage Issues
