Truckflyer
To be fair, I agree with much of what you say.
Ryanair's policy of employing younger pilots is short term, muddled thinking. I personally know a number of older pilots who would join the Company and be a real asset but they are not given the chance. Ironically, if the same pilots were to get the bare minimum command hours they would be snapped up by Ryanair regardless of the fact that their experience would not be commensurate with their age.
You see, everything about Ryanair's operation, from passengers to pilot recruitment, from operational control to engineering is based on satisfying the lowest common denominator. The Company only cares about short term money.
By the way, I am over 30 and would have quite happily taken the old route if Ryanair hadn't existed.