Why "cadet" programs don't work in the USA.
You see, we are a country in which an individual works hard to get ahead...competes with all of those around him. And selection process will often overlook extreme motivation.
Motivation, hard work, dedication, and things that can not be placed into a selection process calculus would get over looked. A cadet who gets 250 hours and then starts in a nice comfortable Airbus 320 series has not paid his dues.
It is the guy who sleeps on the couch at the little airport waiting for a new student to build a few hours...someone who ''suffers for his art" if you will.
A selection process won't make a great artist (painter)...but it might save him cutting off his ear.
I've flown as copilot to a guy who was an air force (usaf) guy who became a C141 copilot at 250 hours. He was a crappy captain and didn't know much (even after years in the air force and years at the airline). I pointed out that his oil quantity was low on number two engine (prior to takeoff...JT8D). He looked at me, a 3 year copilot by that time and said: what should we do? I told him that it might come up when we add power and we should monitor it as we spooled up on the runway. He had never heard of such a thing...but of course it worked.
later on, on the same flight, I said we should fly at FL230 to avoid turbulence. He told me that was terribly stupid and we should fly HIGH to get best fuel burn. So UP we went...knocked around terribly. We came back down to FL230, GOT DIRECT EVERYWHERE cuz no one else was there and came in early, under fuel burn with a smoother flight.
He said we made a great team. I told him I would never fly with him again and he was an idiot.
So, there you have it. One line of a cadet type program and another, the suffering artist.
I would not have qualified for a cadet program...but my motivation to excel as a pilot may not have been quantifiable in a selection process.
Its also why Wilbur and Orville made it and Langley didn't.