In the past did as far as DE went was it just for FO or did they do DESO as well? A colleague who just went there for the transition training (another with 4000+ hrs and airline experience) is going to be in Australia for 4 weeks only. Would this not seem to be as close to DE as you can get? I understand the whole "you are hired as a cadet" thing but what would be different if you were hired under the name DESO? I'm not referring to pay I know the details of the new deal.
Also, and this may be dreaming, if a person with those kind of credentials were hired, as an SO, and DEFO were required, would it not make sense to promote from within? He would hold the requirements and have CX experience, even if he had just been an SO for say 6-12 months?