Now look at how the market is flooded with desperate cadets paying for type ratings working for breadcrumbs leaving no opportunity anymore for experienced pilots with time on type. Even with >3000 hours on 737's and A320's I couldn't go back to my former employer even if I wanted to, simply because of low timers willing to work for peanuts.
So what is it you want? This is called progress. This is where the world is heading to. There is no way back. You and I were one of these desperate people paying big money to fly. Accept the consequences.
Limbo, I realize perfectly well that this is what the world is headed to, but you need to look one step further.
The profession of F/O has been virtually destroyed and turned into poor cadets being totally exploited in return for experience that gets them...in the LHS of the same operation with the same bosses out to destroy even more T&C's in order to enhance their bonuses. Why stop there? The next logical step, IMHO, is that the profession as captain will be destroyed by turning DEC's against each other just like most low-cost airlines have unfortunately been so successfully been doing with F/O's.
The question people need to ask themselves is whether they want to go down this low-cost route and go for the 4 stripes, or use that "bought and paid for" experience and move somewhere else.
Yes I agree that almost everybody in any low-cost airline (myself included) has some blame to carry for the deterioration of T&C's, but when I was in EZY I quickly realized that neither the company nor the union and colleagues were willing to make a stand against this rot. From a company perspective I can of course fully understand, but I could never quite figure out why my ex-colleagues nor BALPA ever made a stand. Even here on PPRuNe you have some pilots who feverishly seem to
defend the companies and their P4T bending over backwards scams.
So therefore I decided to use my "bought and paid for" experience and leave the low-cost industry and I advice as many people as possible to do the same. When you compare the deal I had (TRSS F/O with still a decent salary) to the deal that cadets now get (being a P4T contractor and basically beg for work so they can pay their bills) I guess that so far I've been proven right to leave. Mark my words: DEC's are next to be played out against each other when everybody is rushing for the exit.