That's not strictly true, where there is a lack of candidates that meet OM requirements then the 3 year time in company rule can be reduced to 2 years if the candidate has equivalent experience. This is why in the latest round a command allocation in Jetstar NZ went to a pilot with 2 years and 1 day's experience. It can happen, the average time in NZ at the moment is about 5 years but they have reached the bottom of the experience and time pool so now the next round will have people who have just completed their 3 years.