Having flown for 3 different airlines, well two airlines and a package delivery company, I believe that they all like hiring "captains." For whatever reason, I think they feel that bringing someone on board who has been the pilot in command is, over the long term, a better candidate than someone who has not had the overall responsibility of commanding either a large turbo-jet, large jet, or jet fighter/attack aircraft. Regardless of mission type, or which A/C is more difficult to operate, or which brings one to more different airports, captains usually show a more consistent ability to successfully handle the issues and problems, as well as the abnormal and emergency procedures that, from time to time, rear their ugly heads.

At FedEx we have a lot of guys who are senior, but elect to forgo captain upgrades, so that they can stay in a more junior seat. It would be interesting to go back and look to see if there is some relationship between staying out of the left seat and their flying history. Another thing I've noticed is that once you roll out on final (except guys landing on boats) most commercial airport runways look the same.

JJ