The thing about instructors is that they are generally very good at instructing but they are woeful at actually knowing what goes on at the pointy end of a commercial jet and more importantly how to get there. Its a sad fact that many will have fallen by the wayside at airline interviews and are bitter and twisted as a result.
The other thing to bear in mind is that when someone fails they are very reluctant to see that it was their fault. Blaming someone else is much easier and saves face. To use your example a pilot chopped after 23 hours at Flybe was either:-
- complete crap as probably only 50% of the way through their line training or only 5 sim sessions if they hadn't gotten off the ground yet
- very very unlucky and hard done by - boo hoo Flybe
- fictitious
You would do better to frequent watering holes filled with friendly commercial pilots and buy them a beer. Then you can find out what really goes on in the airlines. I was fortunate that I had friends in the industry whilst I was training who pointed me in the right direction. At flight school I politely nodded whilst these sorts of stories were regurgitated at regular intervals.