I am a current captain that came through the cadet pathway. A frequent question I am often asked by both cadet first officers and direct entry first officers is “who makes the better pilot”. I think the answer is simple, no one way is necessarily better than the other. As the saying goes “there are a million ways to skin a cat”. It comes down to the discipline of the individual. I’ve flown with great guys and girls from both pathways. I’ve also flown with some that were borderline incompetent. Whilst I believe it to be true that handling errors are more common in first officers with low-time, they tend to be better at adapting to SOPs. It is expected of a new pilot, in the same way that a P plater in a car gains experience, and makes errors. The most dangerous candidates are always those that think they know more than they do. If you were to compare the two after several thousand hrs, any difference you would observe would be a reflection of the individuals personality, demeanour and professionalism.
Moving off from the thread drift. To answer the real question, “will cadetships have their place still?”. Maybe, but it will be a very long way down the track. With such a surplus of pilots stood down, unemployed or waiting for that break from slogging it out in GA, how could any airline justify a Cadetship now? Why would any prospective pilot with half a brain want to risk entering such a career now? From both a business sense, and dare I say it, a moral standpoint, cadetships imho don’t have a place in the immediately foreseeable future. There is a current wealth of experience floating around the industry looking for another chance, and it would be remiss, as an industry, to lose that experience by overlooking it for brand new pilots.