The only point I can recognise is that it is an opportunity for those who may not otherwise afford to cover the costs involved and are unltimatly desirable to the operator.
Otherwise there is currently a surplus of individuals who have done the same course, obtained the same grades, trained by the same instructers and had the same level of monitoring as their own trained cadets waiting to be plucked from the abyss. So why spend £xxxxx's (tax deduction is not a HUGE saving) on ATPL's?? Why not just select from what's available? Is that really a commercialy viable decision to offer sponsorship??