MadChinaman,
The cost of re-training and type-conversion for pilots is far more than the cost of initial training. One hour in the flight simulator cost the company in the region of USD $400, plus instructor's pay. A typical conversion from B737/A330 to B747-400 requires 60 hours of simulators. What about ground school, and line-training later?
By comparison, the cost of sending a cadet to the pilot school for ab-initio training is very small indeed (less than USD 40K).
Even experienced and type-qualified pilots from other airlines have difficulties getting jobs in SQ and MAS, so where do you stand ? I am not from the management, but I post this just for your consideration. I sympathize with your predicament. I wish you lots of luck.
[ 07 August 2001: Message edited by: Old Dog ]