Roxy Chick I still believe that despite Cathay, then Jet* and now Virgin + all the other respective airline cadetships, there will still be airlines with direct entry as their main intake over the span of our career (or atleast until we are able to enter the airline world) and there will still be reputable companies such as Qantaslink etc who will take on people with a CPL and extra hours and qualifications (MECIR + FZN ATPL). Furthermore companies such as cathay offer advanced cadetships so if you do choose that path your cpl will come in handy anyway. There will always be something, even if moving overseas until you retire is the answer (eg a regional chinese airline etc)