You can deride me with your 'good luck in your career in GA' comments like i'm beneath those who posses the skill to autoland such magnificent 'wider bodied' aircraft but it doesn't really affect the argument at hand.
Don't know where you get that from. I'd be the first to agree that GA pilots are easily the equal of widebody pilots, in their own field of endeavour. It isn't about being better or worse, it is the simple reality that if you aren't prepared to play the game, you will probably never get to the airlines. That could be a good or a bad thing. GA is far more interesting than airline flying.
I don't work for Qantas because I haven't applied for Qantas. I see nothing special about those individuals who do.
By all means fail to understand the obvious - which is, that those who do get through the selection process have demonstrated a superior set of skills to the many, many more who fail to make the grade. They may not be better people, but they have performed to a higher level. That is the only "special" thing. Pity so many of them turn out to be a*seholes.
Many people who bleat on about "of course I never applied to airline xxx" either have never had a response to their application, have failed some part of the selection process, or know damn well that they wouldn't meet the criteria. Of course I am sure that you don't fit into any of those categories...
I might add you spelled "spelling" incorrectly. Lucky you're only a pilot.
...and I noticed that you failed to capitalise your "I"s. Guess you are just a pilot too. Do you really want to do the anal spelling thing? Of course you failed to answer the point, which is that the academic standard required of a pilot is very low.
Or is your point that the decline in quality of Airline candidates is irrelevant because of these items leading to improved safety overall?
Not at all. My point is that career pilots have NEVER been the best and brightest. You clearly haven't given the topic a lot of thought... because if you had, you would understand that a modern airline pilot is not required to be academically brilliant, a top-level sportsman or the best hands-on pilot on the planet. The required skill set predicates against high-flyers, always has. Most airline pilots are "competent" academically, fit enough to get a class 1, average in terms of handling. They also tend to be teachable and prepared to work under a strict rules and procedures, and these qualities are rarely found in the very highest achievers.
I believe you're shooting not just everyone else in the feet but yourself also. Where do you draw the line as has been said? If you're prepared to pay for one thing why not another and another?
Ah, I see. By equipping myself to obtain the job I want, I am shooting myself in the foot. Of course. Why didn't I see that...???
And exactly who else am I shooting in the foot? Those who either cannot, or don't want to, do what I did? Please do grow up. Using that logic, nobody should make any attempt to better themselves, we should all just conform to the lowest common denominator. Up the proletariat! Yeah...
You pay for what you want. If you don't want it, you don't have to pay for it. If you do want it, you do have to pay for it. If you can't pay for it, you can't have it (unless you have a Visa card and a big limit). Not unlike that Plasma TV I would like for my lounge.
That is where the line is.