AS- Please may I disagree with you on one aspect? I'm not ill-informed, I have operated:
Longhaul, shorthaul, passengers, Cargo.
Worked for operators in Europe (LCC and Legacy), U.S., Middle east and finally Asia.
I have flown cold weather ops in Europe, LVP ops in Europe.
High altitude ops to Quito in Equador with heavy jet Aircraft.
worked in meters and feet in Russia in temperatures below -40
I am a Captain currently operating for a major Chinese Airline.
You may not like my views or indeed the way I express them, but I'm not ill-informed.