Scroggs - thanks for that, much appreciated.
Stansdead - I'm grounded enough to know that although our profession is not what it was when I started in the early 90s, it's still one of the best jobs in the world, so who am I to moan. However, I have a
very enquiring mind, and I'm sure many of us have had a good laugh at some of the experience requirements listed in the ads at the back of Flight. I'm not knocking HR departments for rooting out a specific type of candidate, but sometimes it's very amusing, and I'm a sort who likes to understand why, whether it be Insurance, ZFT, lack of knowledge, etc.
With regard to Anotherflapoperator's earlier comment regarding a possible 'rogue' batch of ex-146 drivers, if one compares the flightdecks of the 340/747 and 146 they are a world apart, could this have been a factor?