Time to command is a couple of years as far as i know.
Only if you have the hours on entry and vacancies arise or they expand. More likely is that guys who get some command hours will leave and open up a vacancy.
At about 300hrs a year it will take you an extremely long time to get the hours to have a shot at command, especially if you join with less than 1500hrs.
I did 6 months with them as a tyoe rated direct entry F/O after 9/11 and they are a good employer. They do put you in good hotels and generally look after you, BUT, it is not for everyone.
Night freight is night freight, no matter how you look at it or what you are flying. You will spend as much time hanging around in a smokey portacabin (crew room) as you will flying, in the depths of night. There is no food provided and the only hope is to take soemthing with you or chance your arm with the 'salmonella sandwich machine' in BUB crewroom!!
You are away from home for a 'trip' around various European cities for about 6 nights with one night off in the middle to make it legal. If that's in BUB then the Hairy Canary is great fun and you get hammered with a load of other pilots, BUT, the novelty soon wears off and if you are anything like me you would rather be at home with the choice of doing the same down your local or staying in with the missus for soem 'recreation'.
Your 'trip' may involve being with the same pilot for the whole week, which again can be pretty tedious, even if they are alright. Also, staying in good quality hotels means you have to pay 'good quality' prices for dinner or venture out to eat; great in summer, but not so much fun in Helsinki when it's -30c outside. Plus the novelty of staying in some of Europe's finest cities again pales when you are there for the thirtieth time that year. Another gripe I had was that you have to live out of your suitcase, checking into a hotel when you finish work in the morning and checking out again that evening, taking all your gear and going to work again. Your roster may have you in that hotel and flying out of that hub for your whole tour, but in reality it means nothing and you never know where you might end up on the network, hence it is extremely tiresome to check back into the same hotel and unpack in another room on three consecutive mornings!!
I found them to be a good employer, but the lifestyle was just not for me. I felt that when I went to work my life went on hold and I just existed until I returned home and then I was knackered with jet lag for a couple of days due to constant nights. When I was there I had no complaints about time off; I was getting on average 4 to 5 days at home before going back to work, but bear in mind the previous comment about jet lag. I know that the days off seemed to vary from pilot to pilot and personally know of guys who were only getting 3 off at a time......not good.
So, I have no axe to grind against DHL, they were very fair and as I have said, a good employer, but you really have to be suited to the lifestyle because if you are not it is soul destroying. If you have a family think long and hard before accepting an offer. Most of the guys who joined when I joined have since moved on, like me.
Best wishes
PP