When I was there, I flew with three (that I was aware of their flight experience) captains that had less total time than I did, and had NO previous 121 Captain experience. I was referring to the FO's that had about 7-8 years in, and they all probably had the same if not more time than I did.

"Less qualified" as in they had no time with the company and the aircraft, and sometimes had no 121 CA time when an FO (not me) had been displaced from the CA seat. I'm not saying that they were incompetent, although one or two flowbacks I flew with I would question. Most were pretty good. I found myself having to make some of the command decisions, and having to "baby sit" some of them. But again, most (typically the ones with a good amount of regional/commuter CA time) did fine. My point was that it was frustrating to be an FO and have to fly with someone that (in my case) was sometimes less qualified, on top of getting screwed out of an upgrade.

In any case, this issue (flowbacks) has and probably still does create a huge divide in the pilot group at Eagle, just the way ole Pete likes it. Of course, you know this if you are an Eaglet.