anon121.
The 8th paragraph in your post goes to the heart of the problem.
Flying training has always been expensive. Hideously expensive for that matter. Relatively speaking, it no worse today than it has always been. Why then is the industry in this situation, and why does an operator like REX need to go down this path?
What REX has offered is not unreasonable except for one undeniable fact. You will be shackled to them for a long period of time on what is essentially less than street sweepers wages, (certainly no offence to those hard working people as I used to do it myself!), with very dubious prospect of advancement within REX itself. The minimum qualification for command at REX is...
- Class 1 ATPL
- 500 hours multi-engine command under the IFR of which 150 may be ICUS
These are the REGs and any changes to these are for CASA to make. I can assure you that although these requirements may be different under the proposed MPL course, it is still some time off, and is not what is being proposed here.
The mention of the REX seniority system is a furfi'. It is part of the industrial agreement and all REX pilots are covered by it. To even bring it up suggests to me that it may have been used to deflect attention. The reality is that at the moment commands at REX are running to less than 12 months! With the company losing captains virtually by the week, this short timeframe will continue into the future. As a graduated Cadet you will not be entitled to command untill you have satified the above legal requirements.
As a result, you will be bypassed.
The hours in your logbook whilst serving as a Saab F/O will not move you any closer to the legal requirement.
The major airlines also require at least a Class 1 ATPL and the minimum command time, nominally 500 hours for a first officers position. Not surprising as they are not interested in candidates that cannot be upgrade when the time comes.
The problem for REX and all it's employees is, what happens when the seniority list moves down to the next candidate, and they do not meet the legal min requirement for command? This will undoubtably leed to further contraction of the business. It will come to point that the viability of REX itself will come into question. Aother consideration before parting with large sums of cash!
the REX cadetship will, provided you pass the process, give you a garenteed path into the industry. But at what cost? You owe it to yourselves to ask the question. Where will this put me in the future?