Certainly don't agree with those sentiments, Freehills. There is no place for bombastic Captains on the flight deck or a fear culture from the management. The proven way to get the best from the crew is by keeping a friendly manner and even if someone makes a little error here and there - as long as it gets picked up by another crew member - just smile. I see no point in everyone sitting on the edge of their seats worrying about what's going to happen next. If you make a big thing about tiny errors, IMHO the really important events tend to get missed as, particularly on long sectors, it's so difficult to keep such a high level of concentration. We've all flown with overbearing pilots who are such perfectionists they reduce their crew to quivering wrecks, all fingers and thumbs. Flying big aeroplanes is a team game!
I've always liked a relaxed professional atmosphere in the flight deck and generally find that crew don't take advantage of this by getting into sloppy habits. Unfortunately there are a very few people who abuse this- lazy, incompetent, whatever - they get weeded out pretty quickly. It appears that the weeding ratio at Cathay is abnormally high!
Cheers, Y