I'm a pilot for a major UK charter carrier. Hence, I feel qualified to comment.
I find it quite simply shocking that some people on here seem to think it's absolutely acceptable to deviate from the airframer's recommendations for no good reason. It should not be in dispute that a pilot should be able to fly on raw data; however, there can be no excuse for the behaviour of the training captain in this case (assuming of course that the facts as presented are correct).