Unfazed,
I don't think "jealousy" has anything to do with it. I also work for a successful, very large, LoCo. However I don't feel the need and never am I pressured into bending the rules to keep the show on the road. Once this line is crossed it is the first link in the chain. I do sincerely feel for the pilots at RYR as it appears there is a culture of fear which is starting to affect peoples judgement.
When I first got my Command, I was given one piece of advice which has stuck with me.
If you are ever tempted to "push the envelope", practice justifying your actions in your best courtroom voice because if it all goes horribly wrong that's where you could end up (of course if you're dead then it's not your problem, but somebody elses). If you step outside the rules (in a normal operational situation) you will not have a leg to stand on. If the company sacks you for NOT going outside the rules - they will not have a leg to stand on.
Unfazed you are quite right - you don't wake up a JAR Captain one morning, you have to work at it - and keep working at it. Are pilots being promoted "too early" at RYR? - I don't know. Is the training system creaking at RYR? I don't know. Is the Command training sufficient at RYR? - I don't know. But after the alledged activity at STN last week, these are the questions the IAA/CAA should be investigating.
There is no witch hunt here. All airlines have their problems and incidents but is does seem that RYR has more than most - some, alledgedly, very close to catastrophe (CIA/BVS). I don't know if it's down to lack of training, ignorance, culture or because of the scale of the operation. Whatever it is, it needs addressing - now.
The whole industry would suffer if a LoCo suffered a serious accident - times are tough enough at the moment with fuel costs and wafer thin margins (but not SO thin at RYR..... four times the profit of EZY....?)
We are Professionals and the public deserve a Professional operation and ATTITUDE from the company as well as pilots - even if their ticket only cost £5.99.
Fly safe,
A4