Prophead,
as i see it there are three separate issues;
1. - Is it fair/reasonable that some airlines prefer integrated students to modular students?
No it's not fair. There are bound to be many many mod students who are just as capable as any integrated students these airlines take. However due to circumstances they cannot train integrated and miss out on some opportunities. I think we agree on this.
I can see where airlines are coming from though - you have an under resourced recruitment department that find an overnight need for pilots. In an ideal world they would interview every potential applicant, choosing the best. However, as has been mentioned before, one quick call to oxford/jerez and you have a number applicants with a proven training record at your door in as little as a couple of hours if necessary.
This is not fair but it's life so there's not point whinging about it.
2. - Are integrated students any less dedicated, more spoilt or generally more 'a$$hole like'?
Absolutely not!! I don't know what dealings with integrated students you have had but i couldn't disagree more with this. I know plenty of integrated students from both oxford and jerez and quite a few modular students as well. Each group has its fair share of twats. The only real discernable difference between mod and int students is their background before training.
3. - Should I do modular or integrated?
There is no right answer to this - it comes down to personal circumstances. People seem to debate whether int students are 'superior pilots' - this is pointless as it doesn't matter one iota. Once you've passed the exams all that matters is how easy you can get a job. Unless you get accurate statistics on this (which you won't) it's impossible to come to any real conclusion. The one thing that I would say when comparing costs it's important to consider the length of time in training and the potential job at the end. If you spend 5 years doing mod v 1.5 years doing int then the mod guy is loosing 3.5 years of seniority and salary inrcrements. when comparing £30k for mod and £70k for int this aspect is frequently left out.
p.s. - i know you can do mod as quick as integrated but generally the cost then increases coniderably.