I certainly didn't want to start a heated debate about the quality of FOs or Captains. It's about the legal liability and the blaming culture within Emirates. Legally it is written all about aviation regulations and FOMs, that the signing Captain PIC, and ONLY HIM, has the final responsability. This cannot be changed or adapted by any quarterpounder manager at any airline. It's international law. This puts EK's rest policy in a very weak spot. I truly believe that they will turn on any Captain instantly the moment legal implications arise, pretending he should have known and asked for a seat and blah blah blah. They have proven to react so. This puts us skippers in a awkward situation, basically resting in the back solely as a scapegoat for our cost cutting managers who do only one thing: Risk management, and risk that is transferred handily to the skipper. I am not comfortable with this, allthough I have no power to change the situation. That is the reason I am raising the issue, hoping that one day a country we fly over or into will ask some questions. Slim hope, I know, but maybe a incident will force someone to think logically.
As for the FOs, as long as in every bunch of upgrades there are failures, this means that EK deems these pilots NOT SUITABLE, at least at that time, to assume the role of a PIC. - And the last flight before his upgrade they trusted the same FO to assume full authority to replace the skipper who is forced into solitary confinement as far away from the command post as physically possible.
Any further questions?