Why do we need these so-called cadet schemes?
We used to have cadet schemes that provided alternate pathways to a flying career for those who needed financial assistance or had some special connection with the employer - they were sponsored schemes.
We did not need them because we were short of pilots.
In Europe, however, they extended their cadet (sponsorship) schemes beyond special needs/interest groups because they had no GA industry worth talking about. But they worked out that sponsoring their future employees was not going to work in a low cost carrier environment (regardless of whether they in fact were LCCs or FSCs) and began to explore reducing training costs. So they invented pay for training (P4T) and pay to fly (P2T) schemes to support a dramatic expansion of carriers and capacity.
So then we buggered up the concept here and started down the same P4T and P2F paths - EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE NEVER BEEN SHORT OF SUITABLE PILOTS!
So, what do we do?
I reckon that we declare the 1st of May as the cutoff for any tolerance of so-called cadets paying their way into jobs that would otherwise go to experienced DE pilots. The guys who have been sucked in up till now should be protected, because even they had no chance of seeing how all this has unfolded. But that's the end of the excuses and it should be the end of our tolerance.
Unions, associations, councils, pilot groups whatever you call yourselves, get some cohones and let your management know that a line has been drawn in the sand!