Yes, I am. And no, it's not common 'around the world'. Eurocentric - particularly the UK, yes, but not around the world.
The term is understandable in the UK where there is a history within the aviation system whereby people go straight from training to the RHS of an airline - in many cases a training sponsoring airline. The flight logging rules in the UK support this system by making it possible to meet the flight experience requirements to eventually qualify for the issue of an ATPL. Mind you, the licence held is a CPL. There's not one mention of an airline transport licence in the CAA's records nor in the issued licence. It's even a different colour to distinguish it from the ATPL...
Anyway, it doesn't magically 'melt' into an ATPL even when the hours are reached. The candidate must still apply AND have a recent flight test of an approved form eg a company proficiency check. Admittedly these things would normally occur in the course of employment but not guaranteed.
Not so in Oz. In the extremely unlikely event that someone should gain their first position on a MP type then they'll *never* qualify for the ATPL **unless** they also manage to do a substantial amount of flying on a SP type. Oz logging rules prevent the accrual of the necessary PIC time otherwise. I even advised the Ansett cadets that they'll need to find a way of obtaining the PIC time if they ever wish to get a command within their company (except those sent to Aeropelican). The qualification they held when they finished their training at BAe/Ansett didn't, in fact, qualify them for an ATPL, no matter how long they worked for Hazelton, Skywest, Ansett etc. So....nothing 'frozen' there then. It would be more correct to say they have a frozen CPL
. The situation is the same for everyone else.
It *is* a marketing bull**** term that has a relatively recent history of use in Oz. It first started being used by 'sausage factory' schools a number of years ago as a way of differentiating and 'enhancing' their product compared to their competitors - often with an impressive picture of a 747 or whatever in the glossy ad & some vague wording implying that training at that establishment leaves the potential student at the head of the airline employment queue.
Doesn't change the facts though: The privileges granted are those of a CPL. The limitations are those of a CPL. The licence held is is a CPL, not ATPL as you assert. If you think CPL is an ATPL then I suggest you have a closer look at the words printed on it and then check the regs. about what those words mean.
