An all too common story with regard to audits John, even those conducted by the regulator. Flew for 27 years without providing for alternates, as demanded by the ops manual and the regulators supplement to the flight manual for each and every flight, and not one audit picked up on the fact. And that was only one operating practice.
Another was the take off charts in the ops manual only considered the reject case, so should you try to continue the take off with the failure after V1, depending on the prevailing circumstances, you may very well have found yourself in deep doo doo.
I always wondered if in the latter case, a pilot came to grief, what accountability he would have for not complying with the flight manual, as the ops manual had a statement
This Manual shall not supersede or countermand any Regulation, Orders or Instructions issued by the Regulator. Compliance only with the terms of this Manual shall not absolve any personnel from the responsibility of abiding by such Regulations, Orders and Instructions.
Such errors management were aware of, but for reasons of their own saw fit not to address same.