Fortunately as well he falls under the Chief Pilot and the Chief Training Captain calls all shots on pilot training.
Not quite true. The MOT position is on the same level as the Chief Pilot, both under the Exec Man: Ops and MOT is definitely above Chief Training Captain.
BTW, he did resign from SAA.
SAX is approaching this the right way and is spending significant resources in equipping him for the task at hand. The company was formed as a BEE vehicle and he will probably find a lot less resistance at SAX than he would have at SAA if he was promoted to management.