Thomas Cook did the part time recruitment leading on to full time thing for over a decade. And I could be mistaken, but so have Monarch and Jet2? It's nothing new and for the vast majority it does lead to full time contracts. Where TUI differ is on the £7k OCC fee. That's a ridiculous amount and far beyond cost price. There's a very animated thread on LinkedIn where someone has complained about the recruitment process and OCC fee, TUI have replied saying they constantly review feedback to make improvements. If they've got any brains, they'll abandon the fee within the next few weeks as Jet2 are about to open their doors too. I say this carefully...there will be an acute (short, sharp but painful for the airlines) shortage of type rated UK license holder pilots within the next 12-18 months. UK airlines traditionally get to circumnavigate this by hiring cadets in their droves (young boys and girls who will sell their nan to fly) but these numbers have been down during the pandemic.