Mensa,
Ok we sort of agree. Again an example, at my last airline there was a distinct difference between military trained pilots and civillian trained. The difference was quite obvious both in the cockpit and in the air. But I had to be careful not to be prejudice, because as we do agree, when you break it down, you will find chuckle heads in all walks of life. You may be right, but let's hope the new DECs from the US that are just arriving might change your mind-at least about their abilities.
And yes, the word is that there are going to be some accerlerated promotions from the Boeing side. Even the new joiners if not as DECs will get advanced promotions if they have sufficient time, but not the 55 tonnes. Mensa, you have always known, everything is not black and white but with fifteen shades of grey. Sort of like the Pirates code in "Pirates of the Carribean", just guidelines, mate.