Training makes up a chunk of a skillful pilot and natural ability is the other chunk. I'm sure a airline would have had deep concerns if he wasn't paying.
Touch'n'Oops encapsulates the issue quite succinctly. Basically if this guy was a Sponsored Cadet (those schemes that still exist) he most likely would have been chopped along the way, but pay-to-fly and standards inevitably slip (at least apparently in this case).
The only people on this forum "supporting" SSTR/Line time are those that have had the privilege to enjoy it (or wish to). Thankfully a minority.