airplaneridesrfun
For guys with absolutely no experience or no jet time, this program is a great way to get fast-tracked into the airline system for some time on the heavies. No doubt you need to pay for plane tickets and accomodation for a few interviews. You may even be giving up a fat paycheck at home for this, or much more. But if you think about how much it costs a guy who pays for his own training, slugs it out instructing or flying turboprops for regional airlines, then joins the airlines... the financial cost of using the CX cadet program to get into a major airline, is minimal because when you start you are already flying jets.
I do agree with you on the "free training, no obligations" bit though. For non-local cadets, joining as a CX cadet is kind of like doing your stint at regional flying/GA, only you are flying B777s instead of ATR72s. Afterwards with all the experience under your belt you are actually free to find some greener pastures. That is why I wonder what CX will do to try to keep these people from moving on.