Don't believe what you are told during recruitment phase. So go by what pilots tell you, not the company.
At CX the FOP recruitment department quit (head went to QF) as they were being asked the impossible, so recruitment is now done by the People department. FOP recruitment used to tell lies - ie basings are an option. People have taken the lying to another level ie SO upgrade time is less than 2 years (it is currently > 5 years) and basings are an option.