What I'd really like to see is a resurgence of the sponsorship schemes that were such a feature of the market just 5 or so years ago. There aren't too many substantial rumours yet, but I do think that it's only a matter of time.
Honest question scroggs, why in the hell would you like to see that? For sure it seems that the job market is turning itself around, but it has just gone through one of the worst and most protracted downturns in its history ... there are still hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of capable pilots out there with ATPLs, waiting patiently while they batter away in C152s or turboprops if they're lucky, all of whom would love jet jobs, without re-introducing these ridiculous sponsorships and the artificial imbalance in the job market that they create.
From the employer's point of view, sure, they may allow for a certain amount of certainty in their recruitment planning in times of 'genuine' pilot shortages, and perhaps even ensure a bit of hypothetical gratitude and loyalty from a portion of their crews, but we are still a long long way away from a 'pilot shortage' at the FATPL level by anyone's standards.
What
I'd like to see is their permanent demise from the UK market forever more ... to make this place more like every other part of the world, where a shiny jet job is actually the reward for the people who have proved their worth and their commitment by doing a few years of hard work in pistons and turboprops. As opposed to getting it handed to them on a big silver plate with 200 hours to their names
F.W.I.W. the gossip I have, is that the BA ab-initio cadet sponsorship is gone, forever, or at least never to return while Mr Eddington is in charge. Can't say I'm crying in my milk over it
