@162657 (hope I've got the number right ...
Rank (in both senses of the word) inflation isn't a new thing by any means: by the mid '60s it had bedome "usual" that Wing Commanders commanded squadrons - except in FEAF, with Confrontation going on, where a full-strength Canberra squadron, for example, was run by an excellent Sqn. Ldr Boss who later went on to great things as he rose up the ladder, very deservedly.
One reason given earlier than that for people spending their career always one level below the one they were ready for was that the rank structuire was designed when aeroplanes were simple, and complicated machines such as the Meteor were above a Squadron Leader's skill levels.
Such was (and still seems to be ?) the thinking in the Central London Branch of the Service ... Totally disregarding the fact that even before joining the Service, people likely to join had imbibed technical awareness and even knowledge far beyond that of those august personages who inhabited the dusty offices in which such things were decided.
(Rant not really over after decades ... !)