Actually we HAVE figured out how to take D/E Captains........did you not see our advert in Flight International ??? Direct Entry F/O....Rapid Command ???
you see what happens is that we take experienced Captains and they join as an F/O then after they have completed ground school and a few other bits we say, "well done, your promoted to Captain" then stick them in the left hand seat for the simulator training until they check out......................
Of course, we are only doing this on the Classic at the moment as we have lots of 55 year old retiree's who we cycle from the -400 pax fleet to the -400 Freighter.........................thereby filling nearly all the vacant slots
lets face it the AoA is a joke, what with only about 49% membership, whats the secret one called, ah, yes, the Cathay Pilots Union, as well, the AoA is so busy trying to sort it's own problems out it couldn't negotiate it's way into a free concert without having to pay 3 years back subscriptions.................................
Can you imagine if I called the Automobile association and said, "hey, I'd like to join".......would they really say, "But you were a member in 1995, you'll have to pay 11 years worth of arrears of membership"
I tell you, talk about suffer from delusions.............................they ain't even on the bench, let alone in the game !!!!!