No, it wasn't meant as sarcasm. New hires are different from "acquired" guys, in that they are more than ready to accept anything that the training department tells them. However with a merger, there are a lot of sour apples in the group. Guys who have been flying these jets for a long time and don't want to learn "how is done here." You many not believe this, but anyone whose either been through a merger or came to a company, shortly after the merger will (hopefully) verify what I'm saying.