Lever,
You say that,
The entire marketing model is built around security and safety.
Well surely the same applies for all airline companies. Why on earth would they want to be seen as unsafe. That would mean that no company should take on an Ab-Initio "kid" because in your opinion they aren't safe!!
Bit of an insult don't you think. Personally i was lucky enough to walk straight out of my training and into a job with a major UK charter company, and i was flying the A320/21 around whilst i was still 19.
I suppose you think that when someone comes out of flying school they should be an instructor for a couple of years, then move to a regional turboprop operator for another couple of years before finally moving onto the so called 'shiny jet'.
Obviously quite a few companies don't think that and believe that hiring a low hours, recently graduated student, who hasn't had time to pick up any bad habbits or lose too much of the vast amount of info they've had to cram into their brain during the training, is a good thing. And in many cases they're right.
Just because you've got 1500+ hours and your ATPL is unfrozen doesn't neccesairly make you any safer than a low hours cadet. More experienced maybe but as we all know that can lead to its own problems. If it happens, give the guys/girls a chance, you might just be supprised!!