Carnage, couldn't agree more with your comments.
Pete, occasionally you hear about ex military pilots getting early commands. What happens is that there are times when the CEP's may have had the seniority but not the hours to gain a command, usually at Gatwick. Therefore the seniority required drops so lower placed DEP's get their commands before the CEP's as they have the required hours. As said above seniority is everything so in the scenario I've described above SFO CEP will be elligible for a LHR command over Capt DEP as by the time they're both senior to become LHR captains the CEP now has the hours.
I joined the A320 fleet last July and once I'd finished line training and consolidation (totally 4.5 months) I didn't ever have to come to work more than 12 times per month. It has been as low as 7 per month for a couple of months but to be honest I enjoy getting home some evenings so I try for about 10 times per month with around 8 nights per month away (2/week). I usually have no difficulty getting this and for me this strikes a nice balance between work, money, and home life. One year in and in the top half of the P2 list. Currently no other fleet offers that sort of movement.
Regarding the reduction of 757's, by Jan 2002 the number of Airbus's will exceed the number of 757's. Somewhere around 33 to 28 with the 757 decreasing to 12 hulls over time. Also no more 319's after the end of this year, all new 320's. This naturally means the route structure will increase but in reality we usually pick a new destination each month (not necessarily a new night stop though).