Why would you be more employable ?
If one airline is farming out the right hand seat to individuals who will contract to no pay, then it puts the other companies at a commercial disadvantage. In turn they will also do the same.
If you don't think so just look at the situation that exists in most if not all companies that employ low time pilots now. The terms and conditions have gone through the floor for new joiners ( short term and long term) in the last 5 years. Unfortunetaly the surplus of newly qualified professional licence holders has put downward pressure on labour costs at that end of the market and that effects not only new licence holders but also new joiners from the military and other "experienced" sources.
The problem with working for no renumeration is that once you get bored with that concept and begin to feel your new found "experience" has a value, you will find yourself competing with the new wave of others who like you see a personal advantage in working for nothing. Why will a company decide you are worthy of their increased costs, ( low cost remember), when others are equally willing to do the same job for free ?
I have worked for my own employer for over 20 years and in that time seen a steady improvment in terms and conditions. However over the last few years the company has had to compete in this brave new world of the "lo-cost" model. This includes new ( lower and restrictive) salary structures for new pilots (all new pilots!), the abolition of final salary pension schemes ( something not unique to airlines of course), the abolition of permanant health insurance for new joiners, reductions in travel benefits, and the list goes on. In other companies I see the requirements to pay for your training, pay for your uniform, pay for your meals and drinks, pay for your car parking etc. all of these changes reduce the employers cost base, and sets the standard for others to follow or themselves risk operating at a commercial disadvantage.
I can tell you that the view from the top of the tree is still largely as good as it ever was and therein probably lies the attraction. However the rot is visibly spreading from the ground up and I hope I have floated off into retirement before it gets up to the top branches. I have a son who is currently setting out to enter commercial aviation, and it is his future that I worry desperately about. The career he is hoping to embark on is far removed from that he has lived and benefited from for the last 20 years.
Who will pay his sons or daughters costs when the job itself is little more than a vanity exercise for other youngsters ?
I can understand the frustration that drives this sort of attitude and ambition (albeit myopic), but it is high time the standards were adjusted for airline entry. In my opinion the hours requirement is set too low and this serves to dilute the experience base. It is unlikely ( at this point in time ) that the regulator will do anything to change the status quo, although they do have concerns about low experience Captains and First officers flying together. It is more likely the insurance industry (another major cost consideration) will drive the change, eventually and unfortunetaly !