Dutch74,
The scheduling issue isn't really a problem as all new hires must have the prerequisite time to get a type rating and serve as IRO the first day on the line. Atlas had hired pilots in the past with low time whom initially were not able to get IRO qualified. All of those pilot have since gotten their type rating after about a year. Atlas No longer hires pilots that will NOT be able to get a type rating and serve as IRO after initial training. So only recent FE to pilot transitions lack experience to get the IRO qualification immediately. There are maybe 10 of these folks amongst 500 pilots.
That being said, since the Classic is a 3 person crew, it isn't until the flight time exceeds 12 hours that a relief pilot is needed and even then based on the numbers above, it would be EXTREMELY rare to have two Classic FO's that are NOT IRO qualified in an augmented crew.
More importantly, given an option, I think it makes a lot of sense to make a Classic FE a Classic FO for his first right seat job. He knows the plane, he knows the crews and he gets roughly half the landings (or more if the Captain is generous). Atlas -400 pilots almost always fly 3 or 4 pilot crews. One or two takeoffs/landings a month is hardly a place to get "stick time" and GAIN proficiency. Why put the additional difficulty of putting that FE into an unfamiliar cockpit when there is already enough stress of the transition?
When pilot hiring recently resumed, Atlas FE's both active and furloughed were given head of the line privileges before hiring commenced. I believe 6 or 8 people are now in training for the right seat. The offer for preferential hiring remains for all Atlas FE's both active and furloughed once the minimums set by the company and agreed to by the union are met.
I hope this helps.
ACP