In regard to 457 visas I think that you will find that it is the government that is going to be the sticking point not the company. Skywest would never have started out on recruiting from Europe if they didn't think it would be cheaper than training local pilots who are not rated. The problem now for them is that the government might not agree that the lack of a type rated pilots constitutes a shortage of suitable pilots and hence may not approve the visas. 457 visas have been a very contentious issue and not just in aviation. I think that there is a snowball's chance in hell of visas being approved for a large number of pilots, no matter how well they performed in their sim check or interview.