The Flying Cokeman - I think we are both of exactly the same mind. My only difference is that I cannot look ahead to any time in the foreseeable future when we will not have a huge pile of qualified and capable FOs awaiting Command. Therefore I cannot see any need for DECs. The only chink in that argument I could see would be if another airline went down and a rapid opportunity appeared to move quickly into a market at very short notice and we could not provide enough Captains through the training system. Even then, I think there numbers would be tiny - it any at all.
Hahn - I absolutely do mean to tell you that if you are an easyJet captain you will be sat next to an FO earning £1k per month. I have done it constantly for the last 5 years and have done so in the last week!