Exactly...and I know of pilots, friends of mine, that have been in the situation described...lost their Aust ATPL issued on the basis of a FAA ATPL gained in one of those weekend full emersion courses after failing an ATPL subject because
VB demanded proof of Australian ATPL subject passes..they got it back when the subjects were all passed and were just very lucky that their job didn't require an ATPL at the time...and another who withdrew his
VB application because of that.
QF are the same and they control entry to J*, Sunstate, Eastern etc...when I applied for a Kiwi ATPL (via the trans tasman agreement) for my current job, they required certified true copies of my Australian subject passes...so clearly Air New Zealand, Pacific Blue etc are out of the picture too...irrespective of the airline's possible view on the subject because you don't get to first base without the relevant licence...NZCAA was very clear that a Kiwi ATPL would not be issued on the basis of an Australian ATPL issued on the basis of an FAA ATPL...I assume nothing has changed in that respect in the last 4+ years.
That makes a US ATPL, rightly or wrongly, a VERY limited licence in
this part of the world...not so in others like the ME....worthless in the EU too...as is an Australian ATPL.
Like I said above...No chance.