Touched a nerve there, No controversy intended.
1998 company directive, CS148-02 stated that promotion trend should be directive to local crews. Captaincy promotion for expats to be phased out within 8 years and SFO within 5 years (also published in a BB news article). As with all great plans in WBSB plaza, it didn't go the way they expected, not enough locals were being recruited into the cadet scheme, and those who were (Gill & MH trained) weren't up to scratch (MF words not mine). Therefore along came Rishworth with an influx of very good expat crews. Yes, recent command structures have a trend towards the expat crews, but the list for next line command courses is local bias. Speaking to one bean counter back then, the board wanted eventually to phase out expats within a specific time frame, but local talent is short in availability so reliance on expats will continue for some time.
My current time with gold taps is 9 years + so I'm still on the inside and happy.
Planet zoid but staying away from Uranus