First up, I'm not a professional pilot (just a PPL), but I am a professional engineer...
And I do understand that there may be times when you want to make a 'firm' landing, given weather conditions etc. But surely any professional pilot would like to demonstrate his ability to control the aircraft smoothly and comfortably for the passengers where practical. Not to mention the maintenance benefits of mechanically smooth landings...
I have flown FR, BMI, EZY, EI, VS and CO in the last year...CO and EI were comfortably ahead of the rest in terms of 'comfort' on landing. FR were far and away at the bottom end of the scale...BMI, EZY and VS were all much the same, though closer to CO/EI than FR!
Obviously I have a small sample to go on, but it seems a lot of people are finding the same with FR...