Rob, I'm ticked about this statement, "I suspect Ozz/Nz will be their main culling ground, as most guys there seem willing to accept any lousy conditions of service to fly a jet, even piss poor small ones." Its confrontational and almost soley without merit from someone who obviously has little or no idea. Especially given the facts, almost every 20 year old you talk of will go deeper into hock, to the tune of 40,000 GBP for a type rating, and this after only 250hours. The "shiny jet" syndrome is alive and well in the UK.
"Market driven"? Absolutely, and those digging into their pockets are the "lemmings" driving it...."he did it, so I better so I can get onto that shiny jet".
Just think if none of them did? I'm certain the "market" would be forced to pay for training, as they should. At least the pay is headed in the right direction, which is nice to see for a change.
Nosegear