then who will they go for in a dry climate? The surfeit of Oxford students who can't get jobs elsewhere, or continue hiring modular?
Purely using what i have read on Pprune as a reference. I would say Ryanair will go for the pilots that still have the funds left to pay for the TR. I think with the economic climate the way it is at the moment, people that financed their training with loans will be ruled out of the SSTR route as they will find it difficult to extend their debt. Which in turn leaves only the "hard working" element (as they were referred to earlier) that saved for training and have no debt, left in the running.
I'd rather not pay for a TR (but then who would??) but the sad reality is that if i felt it was the only way in then i'd do it, as i'm sure would many others given the means.