Agree they are kidding themselves.
But I do remember 10 years ago. The minimums for Cathay at the time for cruise pilot were in the region of 1000 hrs turbine. But the guys getting the jobs were all far more experienced. Not on heavy stuff such as this asks for but there were guys from easy and Ryan going over as well as 4000 hr turboprop skippers.
Now admittedly back then Cathay was hopefully the land of milk and honey which we all know THY isn't. But it was an eye opener what people would do to get on to the ladder at big player.