JW411- I respect your experience and view, but your conclusion is dependent on the one situation that none of us want to consider. The standard of cadets at Ryanair as I have discussed on other threads does not approach the standards you were trained to at hamble or Oxford or the Air Force 30+ years ago. Now there is almost no failure, pay and pass. Any serious incident will drive regulators toward the FAA conclusions. Changing things for LCC's. I just wish the change would happen without the incident.
It is true that Ryanair can fill the seats with 250 hour F/O's and 3000 hour captains but I'm sorry, I was a wet behind the ears F/O with 3000 hours. I accept that with the military that is different.