BBB,
I really don't understand this crusade you are on that budding FOs should first experience flying pistons around the world and in doing so makes them better "decision makers and better hand flying skills".
I will understand if you are expressing an opinion but from your posts, you seem to be enforcing your opinion as the be all and end all. And that in itself is a large difference and an annoying one to readers here.
Let me give you some facts from the other side.
Singapore Airlines along with us at CX put 250hr cadets straight into 744s, 773s and A340s. Chief Pilots that have worked for these airlines have selected the best possible cadets each year and the pilots I fly with have confidence in their abilities. I have already mentioned that these poor sods have to go into the sim once a month compared to us regulars who do it every 6 months. It is something I would never want to do and I have 10 years behind me. Are you saying these Chief Pilots that have graced these large international carriers over the years are wrong? How about the likes of KLM and Lufthansa?
Closer to home as I said before, you have BA where in the past they have taken on 250hr cadets. fair enough they don't go straight into a 747 or 777 but like you say, its not what you fly, its how you fly it. I must say that I find the 744 a hell of a lot more forgiving to weather and my occasional sh!te flying compared to the 737 I flew at the start of my career.
Another example I can use is the MPL. This course puts FOs straight into the right hand seat with a lot more sim time and less hands-on time than the classic CPL/MEIR cadets. I believe 170 hours is the actual hands on flying time you get before you go onto the RHS of an A320 or a Dash 8!
The people that have though up the above (MPL', cadet sponsorship schemes straight on to 747s) can't all be wrong!
Like I said, I have the utmost confidence in the SO (flight monitors) in our airline. A sim test once a month means they are far more reactive and up to speed when an emergency occurs. A sim test once a month for 2 years! I'd lose all my hair with that stress.