I somewhat disagree. From my experiences, very few people had any ties at all with Etihad, and I honestly think the best people got accepted. Granted, it is very irritating being delayed for an indescript amount of time, but surely this is an opportunity worth waiting for? I do feel it's fair enough that as Etihad have delayed their aircraft orders, they have then delayed the cadet intake. There would be no point in Etihad spending £100k+ training each cadet when there are no aircraft for them to fly at the end.