Pete,
Who's claiming to be a top gun? Perhaps your understanding of carrying is different to mine so let me clear it up. I respect any captain whether I know them or not, whatever their age, because they are the captain. No one is saying these guys don't have skills, experience, crm, management abilities etc that are lacking. As to a sim duel....the sim is not the problem. If it was , they wouldnt be here. The problem is the pace of the operation. As people get older, we slow down. No shame in it, happens to everyone. Whether it happens at 65, 62, 70 is irrelevant. The operation requires things to be done within a certain timeframe. I'm certainly not advocating rushing, but when someone can't complete the required duties within the normal timeframe, they most certainly can't keep up with the operation when things get tight. Hence, the FO has to do more than usual to keep things running. Without it, more delays etc etc. to get through a day (and it is not every day). Therefore, there is a certain amount of carrying required. Never for operational decision making etc, but for keeping the thing turning, absolutely. The point is some can't recognize when they have slowed so much that they start loading up the other person. When this happens, resentment ensues...hence the issues. Whether people will write it on here or not, you can't honestly tell me you think this is an issue with a small minority. Capt/FO/SO say the same thing. Maybe it wasn't such an issue when there was lots of expansion in all the airlines, but at a time of little or no expansion, shrinking, RINs, threatened redundancies, these issues become bigger. Not sure when you got to the LHS, for me personally, I'll be in my 50's when my number comes up, if I'm lucky. I certainly won't be flying at 65. Too much fun to be had in retirement.