Polar,
I think the requirements you quote are temporary, and really designed for EZ to cherry-pick ex-Virgin and BA people who would be suitable for accelerated promotion to command. As you said, the next para in the 'Message From the Big O' was:
"While we are currently looking for First Officers with significant levels of experience please note that these requirements will change and we will continue to recruit First Officers with a broad range of experience"
I would expect that EZ will fill their immediate requirements very quickly, and will,before long, announce reduced hours requirements for FOs who won't be looking for accelerated command. Don't anyone expect any ads apecifying 200 hours and a fATPL for a while, though!
[ 11 October 2001: Message edited by: Scroggs ]