After all if FOs were as good as Captains, they would be Captains
I disagree.
Though sure in general, Captains are :
- are better than FO's
- are more experienced
- been trained more
- more knowledgable
However there always are exceptions.
I had a captain once who :
- rarely did any paperwork
- never did a walk around (he was busy smoking)
- didn't follow SOP very well and didn't care either (probably didn't know the SOP's anyway)
- regularly exceeded limits
- flew rather poorly
Now how can the above quoted statement be true ?
I am nothing special as an FO but I think it wouldn't be hard for most FO's to be better than this particular Captain.
He was a Captain because he knew the right people (old boys club) and FO's who were not part of the boys club did not ever become a Captain.