Cost is king these days
and aren't EZY pound wise and penny foolish.
200+ SFO's leaving (absolutley nothing being done to retain them) and being replaced with three hundred 250 hour CTC 'flexi-crew' over this winter/spring (if NSF is to be believed and I for one believe him.) Good business right..?
This leaving Captains to closely monitor new cadets daily. Very hard work I'm told over 5 days times 4 sectors ("I'm so thankful to be flying with a SFO today", is the most frequent thing I hear these days and it seems to be about to get worse, especially for the 0000 to 0600 sim instructors...)
Over 160 internal promotions over the next 15 months, leaving new captains and new cadets flying together daily.
However, new "flexi-crew" to fly 300 to 500 hours per year, perhaps seasonally.
So 5-6 years to accumulate 3000 hours to be considered for command...?
Therefore 3 years from now, perhaps big recruitment for D.E.C's to fill void left by 2010/2011 resigning SFO's (no one left from BMI to fill these positions this time around)
So then and futuristically speaking (edited for African Dude), lots of cheesed off over-looked "flexi-crew", with only 1500-2000 of total factored time after 3-4 years of line flying.
History repeats itself; thus it ever was, thus it ever will be...
Roland Berger - Amen