And by the way many airlines do hire direct entry captains before the their own FO gets a chance because the FO is not yet ready or able for a command.
No. They do it because they want the most experienced perople they can get and when they get them they want to use that experience to it's full extent.
Do you think that an airline will recruit a Captain TRI/TRE and put them in the right seat or even put them in the left and not very quickly use their skills as a TRI/TRE?
With the right package the IAA could attract very experienced ATCOs. However, that is simply not going to happen.
You can take the IAA out of the Civil Service but you can not take the Civil Service out of the IAA.
Regards
DFC