but IMHO 1000' and a calm severe clear day, long runway, is more than overly 'on the safe side'.
and
I suppose a strong minded captain could invoke deviation from an SOP in light of a flight safety issue
When you're dealing with an airline you can't think like that. There has to be one rule and only one rule.
A single pilot on their own or a small company...sure make a rule for good weather and bad weather, but when you're dealing with a company where the pilot numbers start running into the high thousands, you have to keep it simple. Not every pilot is at the same experience level, so what is safe for pilot 1 may be unsafe for pilot 2. Better to err on the side of the lowest common denominator - even if that only applies to half a dozen of your pilots.