the comparisons with BA, Virgin and Cathay are entirely appropriate
I'm afraid not Norm. They couldn't be more inappropriate.
You will, more than likely, find that when Virgin recruited DEC's they were already experienced long haul operators. The reason why there are so many experienced SFO's in long haul ops is because of the long time to command. This allows said SFO's to gain a lot of experience in the type of operation that is not as repetitive as short haul. The type of operation that we short haul types have no experience in.
Now, there are millions of experienced short haul operators in Europe and the UK, in both seats, who are more than capable of operating as a captain, immediately. Doesn't matter who for either.
The same millions of experienced pilots are very incapable of operating as a long haul captain, immediately, because they have no experience of long haul whatsoever.
That is the difference between easy and Virgin/Cathay/BA and to compare one shorthaul company (regardless of identity) to other long haul companies is most odd.