Mack Tuck,
God (or Allah) forbid you ever try to, or ever attempted to get into BA. How would you have slotted in with a lower life form (read First Officer) doing your PPC's for you, regardless of which seat you occupy?
Yep, good old BA and some other major carriers utilise training F/O's........................now what would they know about anything!
The question has to be asked that if it works with that level of experience, with the correct selection and training for the trainer, why do you think that a trainer has to have been in the left seat for a millenium before being able to train?
I have occasionally flown with guys who have been in the left seat a long time, who I wouldn't trust with a bicycle, let alone a huge pile of French or American tin.
I don't really see your argument on this one. With proper career development and reasonable/relevant experience along with aptitude and motivation, a trainer could really be anyone from within the pilot ranks.
