One cannot merely buy a command, it has to be EARNED!!!!
We are turning our profession into a joke. Now the p2f scheme has been extended to commands. So the suckers/impatient ones who bought into the p2f as F/O's (accepting reduced packages and thus affecting pay) will do the same for the command side.
Management must be rolling on the floor laughing at our gullibility. Soon they will have a workforce of pilot swilling to PAY to "work" for them.
Before any sad child starts crying about the lack of opportunities out there, well, TOUGHEN UP!!!
When I entered the industry 30 years ago, there were even less opportunities. We were aware of this but took our chances, knowing that if we did the hard yards we had a good shot at a VERY good career.
Now people are prepared to fast track this but it comes at a price. We are selling out our true value and we will be regretting this in the not too distant future.
Rant over
+1
This is a likely scenario as it would open a rare opportunity to get upgraded. I work in an environment where there are no upgrades, because they just don't happen.
Almost every airline in the world which hires DECs has one identical requirement these days: a minimum of 500 hours in command o n t y p e. This renders any number of hours as a First Officer and even command hours on another type completely useless. As far as I know this requirement is not based on any law, it just saves training costs. Simply put, this is a discrimination which is unheard of. Alas it is not on the "agenda" of the ALPAs to change this situation. That leaves me with a prospect of exactly zero until I retire. And it supports the notion maybe every business has, but the aviation business has it in a very special way: it's not about what you can, what you know or what your experience is. It's just about whom you know!
Now you can blame the victim.
The upgrades might not happen right now, but riddle me this, There is only a finite number of captains out there who are going to take DEC's. At some point, and I'd wager not in the too distant future, the parasite airlines that poach "trained captains" will have to start manning up and train their own captains. So so long as there are no P2F idiots then surely you must get your turn.