Mr Horgy.
Well that's the beauty of joined-up debate. But whatever the pros and cons of direct entry captains vs direct entry FOs (and for what it's worth I think there's room for both), the point is there are just not enough cadets coming through to make the numbers work. Not by this summer, anyway.
And yes, the basing policy sometimes sucks, but this could be made more easily understood and more transparent at no cost AT ALL to the company. As for 5/3. Why? It earns the company no money, especially in the summer when pilots are maxed out. Let's get the NO COST solutions sorted at least.