Chickoroll
Why do Australian and some other Asian airlines employ S/O Cruise only pilots in the first place? I can’t think of anything worse or soul destroying, than joining an airline and then only allowed to sit in the cockpit in the cruise, not trusting to carry out takeoffs and landings.
Are the pilots recruited so short on experience, or is it a cost saving exercise in they are paid less than a fully qualified crew member?
All modern jet airliners are designed to be flown with 2 crew, there are no Checklists for a third pilot. (Long Range ops obviously use augmented crew for mandatory rest)
In my Uk airline all new hires fly as fully trained P2 sharing the landings as required. In fact for example Uk to US East coast trips are crewed with only two pilots even on an A380.
Lack of sectors on Long Range trips sometimes requires the odd Sim to keep up recency, but not an insurmountable problem.