Golf Sierra
In your situation you are obviously seeking answers to many questions as anyone would. Just so you can feel assured I worked with krusty for a number of years and anything he says u can bank on it. He will give u honesty & balanced viewpoints & facts.
Have you considered Tiger here in Australia. Some points for you to consider. (1) They have, or have had, a large number of South Africans work at Tiger. All great guys, all have enjoyed the lifestyle and to a man all have been totally accepted here and appreciated.
(2) Tiger is opening up a base in Sydney. As a result they are looking for quite a number of both F/O's & DEC's. At present they have crewed 1.5 aircraft for sydney and am looking to find more as initially it will be a 3 aircraft base with more to come.
(3) Presently the only base is Melbourne with sydney due to start on July 1 with a further new base in Brisbane opening in all likelihood within the next 2 years. (4) over the next number of years there will be expansion which of course will create more opportunities
(5) Yes if accepted you do have to self fund an A320 type rating. But if u are going to get a rating the A320 is arguably the best rating to have WRT opportunities worldwide
(6) not bagging REX (not praising them either) but obviously the pay & conditions are much better
If you are interested feel free to PM me (although I have no idea how that works as I have been a long time lurker here without actually joining)
Cheers