I hear the high failure rate is due in part to the medical. I heard something like 40 out of 70 ( hearsay) haven't passed the medical so far. Sounds a little high to me.
I recently went through the Cathay medical and it was hard and they had a couple of issues but requested further tests which cleared everything up. Nerves can really mess with some of the tests...especially BP.
At least they gave me a chance to clear things up and now I am off to CX in Nov.
Doesn't sound like AC is willing to do that. Kind of sad, especially since AC for many is the dream job for many Canadians.