Anyone who can seriously sit here and say they would rather have a kid with 200 hrs flying them from A to B than an experienced pilot is full of ****. I work at an airline that has had a cadet program running for years but the difference is that there is a rigorous selection process followed by an 18 month full time flight training course where quite a few guys wash out.
After that it's 3 or 4 years sitting in the observers seat learning the operation with no less than 6 sims per year with some rather nasty sim instructors and check captains.
Then if you get through all of that you upgrade to F/O but only after you pass an upgrade interview and no less than 40 sectors of line training.
Even after all of that we get the occasional guy slip through the cracks.
That is the difference between a real cadet program and what Jstar are doing.
The point of the matter is not whether cadetships work or not, they clearly do, but do you need them in Australia with an already huge pool of experienced guys who were motivated enough and passionate enough about flying that they willingly put themselves through the trials and tribulations of GA.
This Jstar scheme is purely a cost saving measure and in fact could be seen as a revenue raising measure by the more cynical of us.
Do we really want an industry based on selecting the best guys possible for the job or one where the job goes to the highest bidder.