Keg
Mostly good points and a reasonable response.
I never advocated that Europe is harder. My point is that in no way is it possible to argue that Australia is more difficult, and 250 hr cadets are being successfully managed in Europe.
Don't worry, Qantas is not on its own. Virgin are having difficulty managing experienced pilots from the back seat of a 777 to a front seat of a 737. This is not a reflection on the pilots, but more a reflection on the airline and its culture.
Our system has been built on the back of the GA principle. Our airlines do very little training, mostly checking. If the airlines genuinely think they can manage Cadets into their systems, then they need to change from big C to big T.
I still maintain that the end product of a good Cadet scheme will be superior to a GA pilot as far as compatibility with an airline. What is in question is the airlines ability to take those kids and develop them into airline pilots. In the current airline environment GA pilots have the upper hand in that area because they have had years of experience learning how to survive in the dog eat dog environment of Australian Aviation. In that regard Cadets will be lambs to the slaughter unless the airline airline implements Cadet specific development programs.