Part of my previous job was the odd jumseat ride to our headquarters. Since this went Trans-Atlantic it was always very interesting.
Also had the chance to fly cockpit on a Trans-Pacific and -Siberian flight (one in a B772).
Also, we ran through a yearly re-qualification, which compromised weather, systems and OPSPECS. I certainly do agree that this is a vital part of anybody doing OPS (but get this across to the beancounters
).
Under FARs these are somewhat mandatory re-training requirements, if you have a license. With JAR's I suppose they just wait for the first couple of incidents/accidents, before they decide to part from the philosophy to just demand 'adequate training' by the company (i.e. go and watch, what the other fellows do).
Personally, I find the JARs very disappointing in respect of Flight OPS Officer qualifications and hope that they revert to mandatory licensing at some stage.
Cheers
fcit