B200drvr,
I don't quite understand the point of your post or why you quoted me to make that point (whatever it is).
It is no secret that cadet pilots at CX remain a SO for circa 2 years and only act as flight monitors during that time. Also, no one here is arguing that you need to have experience to move up to FO and Captain? That's obvious.
You seem to quote one paragraph that seems to back up your opinion, but fail to quote anything else I wrote i.e CX is not the only airline that has this scheme and BA actually puts 250hr pilots into A320s/737s when they recruited previously. The fact that 250hr pilots are not placed into a 777/747 is neither here nor there. They are still placed into the RHS.
I really don't get some of the arguments here and I feel like I have lost track about what is being argued about. There is no problem voicing opinions but the way posters are writing, it is like they think they have the winning argument.
My opinion was that the legacy carriers around the world that have cadet pilot schemes and the Chief Pilots that place 250hr cadets into the RHS or the flight monitoring seat of a 747 can't all be wrong. Can they?
From what I can see from these 4 pages, there seems to be a clear divide on this thread between those guys who went straight into an airline (either via a cadet programme or buying a rating) and those who flew countless TPs around the world. The argument being that those with GA experience make better pilots, make better decisions and therefore this should be the ONLY 'respected' route into the airlines.
Next time I have lunch with a good friend of mine (Group Captain btw), I'll tell him that placing 20+ year olds in Tornado's after a year in a Grob is a big mistake and that they should recruit 5 year experienced TP pilots to the RAF - more experience, better hand flying skills, better decision making.
Last edited by betpump5; 17th Aug 2009 at 14:22.