Jack D - next time you go flying how about asking some of the guys what their experience levels are both LHS and RHS, you may be surprised with what you find! Maybe you haven't flown with any really experienced FOs or less experienced Capts but here are a couple of things that come to mind:
1. I saw a DEC getting out of an a/c the other day with a FO who used to have a wide-widebody command, he has vast amounts of experience almost certainly equal to the DEC - he came here just as the rules changed and now cannot get back into the left hand seat until his 3 years are up.
2. I know of several other FOs who were trained by TRIs with less experience than they had. That is not necessarily a bad thing as the TRIs apparently (as I wasn't there) were very good at what they did, but they did not have a lot of experience to fall back on.
3. Would you class a Capt that has spent all his life flying around one area of the world in one type of aircraft doing one type of flying experienced? I wouldn't necessarily say so. Variety is the spice of life and builds experience?
Experience is a worth its weight in gold, at EK it is something I personally think that we lack in a number of areas.
We also have a vast ability range in both the LHS and RHS, so how about less of the sweeping statements please. Ta
PS use the experience in the company before resorting to DECs!!