Lemel and others who think there is
not a shortage of qualified/experienced crew, may need to look abit beyond their noses.
There is a shortage ...Right now and getting worse. Airlines, especially in Asia are parking airframes against the fence due to not having the required crew(Garuda/Tiger, I won't go on). This current batch of (mis)managers have not foreseen this, refuse to admit it and seek cadetships to try to fill voids and use all types of excuses to cover up their inabilities.
PS Cathay are 200 pilots short right now! Thai/Garuda/Tiger/Air Asia/MAS/PAL/Jstar/PB/ANZ/Skippers/Skywest/APNG/ANG PLUS the Bizjet scene ALL req crew, not to mention the US, India & Eastern block countries! Broaden your scope, people!