Simple reality is that GA jobs in NZ are hard to come by. Growth in the aviation industry is all in the airlines, no one hears about Eagle, Mt Cook or Great Barrier Air doing massive expansions.
The reason they are not recruiting is because people like you are jumping the line.
Guys used to leave the regionals for an airline gig. Why would they leave now to take a pay cut and pay 40k for an A320 rating?
The only ones interested in these schemes are cadets and DEC who are coming home after making their money in the sandpit.
As I'm fairly new to aviation I'm unsure the difference between the "traditional" cadet programs and the ones of today. Any chance of highlighting the main differences?
Everything was paid for. In Qantas' case, the cadet paid for their CPL/MECIR and were looked after from there (regional placement, seniority number, mainline slot after 2-3 years of regional placement).
I can assure you that none of the six of us doing the current course we are on are ones who have money. We have all taken on student loans and are living it rough on student allowances to get to where we want to be in aviation.
Now think about how you're going to pay that loan off (circa 100k) on 48k and buy a house, while supporting the wife and kids. You can't.....Hell I struggle on twice that.
I can also assure you that we are all very enthusiastic to learn and are all more than capable of being great pilots. None of us are getting into this on just a whim because we think it would be fun to fly a fancy jet.
You will never become a great Pilot. You may become a great systems manager. You cannot become a great Pilot flying an airbus all day on autopilot while the Captain takes the tricky sectors and you never make a decision.
In an Airbus you just point the stick where you want it to go, and it will fly there. It does not take a great Pilot to do this. It takes a great Pilot to rescue it when the computer ****s itself (Air France cadet at the controls vs Qantas crew over learmonth).