Some rather unkind and aggressive posts. As the person you berate as being self serving is already a TRE etc he is unlikely to benefit from a seniority list. However, colleagues who have served for a number of years and reached the required standard might.
It would be quite difficult to choose ,on merit, between an external DEC and internal SFO, how would HR compare training records ( if available),performance etc from different companies?
If I, as a captain, were made redundant, is it fair that I should leapfrog someone who has worked 5 or 10 years for their company and been assessed as suitable for command? I would not feel hard done by starting in the right seat.
I think it is wrong to solely employ low experience F/Os and would prefer the mixed recruitment of a few years ago, the difficult financial situation some of the young lads are in with bankruptcy threatened is probably moving towards a less safe operation.
While cost is king, it is cheaper to promote an expensive SFO and replace them with a cadet than keep him as a SFO and recruit DEC