Firstly I’d question whether you’ve done both?
Secondly and with all due respect, I joined as a non rated DEC last year with 5000 hrs PIC on similar jets. I should hope the DEC application process is ‘easier’ than the internal upgrade process. After all I’ve done an upgrade and flown for 7.5 years as a Captain in and out the same airspace as eJ. The reason the DEC process is easier for a DEC than an upgrade is for an internal FO is down to experience and it’s exactly as challenging as the respective candidates should find it.
Any decent and safe operator has tough upgrade courses. Internal upgrades in eJ are no more deserving of the LHS than any other internal upgrade candidate at a different airline.
Well, yes, i have done both. And for internal upgrades candidates, the current situation simply means that the company prefers to keep internal upgrade numbers artificially low in favor of direct entry captains. And that has been indeed confirmed by training, simply because the training department likes that DECs do not use up that much of its capacity. In effect, internal candidates, even those with prior command experience on airbus, have to stay back for external captains, and that is quite a bit to swallow.
But the bigger issue is, it is not an objective system, it is completely and utterly subjective. I would argue that most would not have any issue at all with a fair and objective system. But that does not exist in easyJet.