I am "Joe Public" Not in the industry (but have hung around PPrune for a couple of years)
I have not the slightest interest in the Flight crews'experience.
I take it on trust that any first-world carrier is not going to entrust their multi-million pound asset to a pair of nincompoops....that's before we get to the issue of regulatory oversight.....however poor that may be, it sets the bar high enough to concentrate the minds of the bean-counters...and that's where it 's all at!...MAKING MONEY! the cost of getting the flight-crew wrong, is much higher than the cost of getting it right.....MOL might treat his staff poorly, BUT his Company selects ABLE staff, he offers a good, safe product and the thrilling mongs buy it! (me included
)
I went to school with a lad who could pass all the exams, yet he had zero understanding of his subjects and learnt by rote. he could have passed all the pilot exams , but I wouldn't have trusted him pushing a shopping trolley on an icy path.
I am in total agreement with the "up through the ranks" philosophy....buying a place in the cockpit of a shiny jet is, of itself, not a good or safe way forward.
IMO,the LOCo's have got it right, that's why they've run rings round the legacy carriers. they have smart, able pilots, train them well and give them good tools to do the job with.
My late mother took some 16 attempts to pass her driving test in an automatic car..ON THE ISLE OF WIGHT, WITH ONE ROUNDABOUT AND ONE SET OF TRAFFIC LIGHTS....she had plenty of experience (abroad) and knew the test "circuits" better than the examiners....after an appeal against yet another fail, she was retested in the presence of a mainland Supervisor.....the bloody fool passed her...she was totally lethal and I never passengered her, too many ashen-faced accounts of hairy trips with her driving!
Experience? worth a lot more than "hours" Aptitude and ability? worth more than all the hours and"experience" (with training,of course!)