SAS-A321;
Why take a 500 SEP ahead of a A320, with loads of experience?
Good question SAS-A321, and my question would be why not?
Companies have with a lot more reputation than Wizz, Ryanair and SAS, have done this for years, BA, Lufthansa, KLM etc.
Why have they done this?
So they probably could shape them to fit in with their company, and company ethos. Not very complicated, a step down you say, pilots have to take sometimes, has it ever occured to you that some companies don't want people who are taking step downs?
Why?
Because probably the first chance of a better job they will be gone to a better company, so why spend thousands on re-training a very experienced pilot, when he probably will be gone within 12 months?
Take a Cadet, for him it will be more motivation to stay probably 4 - 5 years, so he get's command, for the Cadet it is a win win situation, and for the company they can offer lower salaries, saving money, however they are not lowering the standards, as it is already a proven concept from BA and others.
Just because you pay for your TR, does not mean you are walking into the RHS unchallenged, you still have to show excellent skills and work ability.
Bring in 100 Malev pilots, and you would be asking for trouble in your company, they would unit, work hard to get terms and conditions as they have been used to in the past!
Of course we wish we all could have such terms, but some companies simply do not plan to implement such economical constraints on their business.
It would be a potential bad/poisoners CRM environment, them against us! Having in the past run my own companies, I could easily development of individual groups wanting more than others, because they example have a lot of experience, also they would go into the job demotivated, waiting for a chance to get away, and it would not be positive for the companies present or future!
The thing, everybody takes a step down in their desperation, in the start it might work out ok, but after time, 6 months, 1 year or more, it will change the environment. Companies like Wizz, Ryanair, they do not set any lower standards for their training or pilots, just because they have had to pay their own TR, if you believe that, than you are deluding yourself!
It certainly beats working as and FI for 5 years, and never getting any other job, because you can't afford to renew your IR anymore!