Drshmoo, thank you for responding. However, I respectfully feel that there are some aspects to your statements that need a response:
sound training standards will cover all your hoodoos over promoting through seniority.
In a perfect training world this statement would be true. The statement also assumes that all of us are created as equals. Clearly we are not.
If you throw away seniority, you'll have pilots from overseas screaming for DEC and will do it at any price to get out of ****holes and raise their families in our great country. I'll bet the QF, Jetstars and
VB would love that. The race to the bottom would well and truly be on should seniority be bypassed at infinitum!
This is partly correct. DEC will mean that you will have to compete for positions with people who have greater qualifications and experience than you do. For reasons that I have already described this is reasonable. Many pilots have returned from overseas to J*,
VB and VA as DECs. These people have made a significant contribution to the industry over the years and have wealth of experience to offer. On the other hand, the company may well see an advantage in
internal promotion based on merit.
Immigration laws prohibit the senario you describe, so you do not have to worry about this in reality. If there were such opportunity, the overseas employers would have to lift T&Cs for their nationals to retain a proficient workforce.