I would opin that the unease experienced by 'experienced' captains is not due to a perceived lack of experience in their FO but from their own lack of experience in temporarily handing over their responsibility.
Sorry but that s rub...h. I ve seen it time and time again, when you re in the bunk the most amazing things happen. Not all the time. I ve flown with really outstanding F/O s who had their heads bolted the right way and this, regardless of age and origin.
Unfortunatly, I ve also experienced the worst kind, type, I m a cool dude and who the
are you to dare telling me what I need to do. By the way, what s keeping you from upgrading my wife and kids right now ????
They are not the majority but they are enough to poison the well. What will management do ??? Actually nothing since the word for the lat 10 years has been " Do not rock the boat old boy, or you re the one who is going to get hurt ".
This might be totally unrelated with what happened to 447 but it gets people talking about their own experience and I find this telling.
By the way, some F/O s are also very relieved when the skipper goes to sleep..................and for some very good reasons too.