Fair Go,
If only your name also displayed that area of your personality too.
Virgin is not the only airline to recruit On-board managers with little flying experience, many other, much larger, full service carriers do too.
Being an on-board manager is not just about how much experience you have with an airline, it's about your prior life experience, your prior career experience, your suitability to the position and your leadership qualities.
Some 22 year olds, with 3 months flying experience can make much better on-board managers then a 45 year old with 20 years flying experience.
There is a sincere difference between leaders and managers, leaders are respected for who they are and for their chosen ability to do their job. You're right, it takes a lot more then 8 months to be a leader, it takes a whole life of experience and a whole range of personality qualities. Your comment shows a clear lack of understanding of what a leader even is.
I think it's fantastic that airlines are choosing to recoginise employees for their past experiences and their abilities, as apposed to who is "next on the list". By empowering these people, they are showing the true spirit of their airline, to their own people and their passengers.
If only all divisions, of all airlines were like this, perhaps the on-board service and mood would be what it should be.
So Traffic Boy, I'd just ignore the opinions of days gone by, you should be proud of your achievement and I'm sure you're an inspiration to other crew.