1.Do you think the immigration department were unaware of the number of locals laid off?
2.Do you think the Government and the immigration department were unaware of the ordinance.
3.Who says you’ve lost your job even if the extensions were 3 months has anyone been given notice?
4.It’s highly unlikely that any of the locals will be on a flight leaving Hong Kong they don’t have the right to live and work anywhere else nor the licence.
Presumably wherever you are from won’t be employing them. The argument being “we don’t need to import pilots”. An argument that could well apply in HKG in the near future.
5. One of the reasons for the cadet scheme was to enable the recruitment of expat pilots by demonstrating a commitment to local people.
Arguably some of those people were far more screwed by the pandemic than others.
My point being even if anyone had “thrown their flying toys” you really think it would make a difference or caused the immigration department to take action. Or if they hadn’t done anything the dept would have turned a blind eye?
All of the above presupposes that the rumour is true in the first place and therefore worth debating.