No DRSHMOO
....I'm not a cadet nor was I but know several at various levels and am greatly interested in their roles in and contribution to the industry.
I suspect that though the topic is seniority, that many underlying core criticisms are actually of the cadetship program itself. (Refer to the earlier misspelt though funny post on the presumed priveleged life of cadets). The reality is often somewhat different. Of course there are captains who want their sons and daughters to follow in their footsteps as any father would, and a number do. In most cases however not without a history of waiting on tables, cleaning, shelf packing etc to earn the $$ needed for flying training that most people have.
You might be surprised at just how many hail from non priveleged and non QF and even non aviation family backgrounds and just dont deserve the cadet bashing that occasionally occurs. But lets get back to seniority...
Abe is dead right in terms of the legal status of cadets and their relationship with their employer, sorry Abe, future possible employer. Egg was left on faces a couple of times back in the past while the employment guarantee existed and so no written guarantee of employment is offered. But lets be less pedantic and look more at the reality.
The reality is that cadets who graduate are offered employment; that Q invests heavily in supporting the program in addition to the mega$ paid by the cadets through personal/professional support, uniforms, relocation expenses. In other words there is a big commitment by the company and a big commitment by the cadet. This training structure is I believe unique or at least extremely rare in this country but fully jusitified given the circumstances.
So "non employees"? Not really. A "select bunch"? Yep. Very few initial applicants make it through to graduation. "Why couldn't I and others in GA or regionals have a seniority number while we do our x number of years industry experience?" Because its your industry experience determined and chosen by you, unlike the cadets' industry experience which is not optional, has a prescribed time frame and has been arranged and directed by their
'non employer'.
The matter is quite a bit more complex than at first glance but I come back to the point of my original post. Seniority nos. would have been issued to cadets pretty much as they now if the regional airline requirment had not been put in place. The outcome is therefore no different.