I've known a few Jetstar cadets over the years, and recently met a small group who had just finished at OAA Moorabbin and were waiting to go to the UK for their A320 Type Ratings.
While they complained a bit about OAA being a bit disorganised, they seemed very positive about the outcome.
My understanding is that for the first year they go on some type of "flex-contract", where they are more casual than full-time permanent.
They did mention that they thought the Virgin cadetship looked more attractive, but this seems to mainly be because Virgin took more of an interest during their flight training than Jetstar did. It was little things, such as being invited to the Virgin AGM and Richard Branson going for a flight with a Virgin cadet who had just passed GFPT.
The Jetstar cadetship is probably a good option and here is why:
* No matter which option you take, pilot training to airline standard will cost a heap, it's just the the Jetstar cadetship via OAA is a premium price.
* My guess is that the premium price the student pays is less than $50,000.
* The salary differential between a junior GA CPL pilot and a Jetstar FO is maybe $20,000 in the first year and $50,000 in the second year. Taking the GA route into the airlines will take several years. Going the Jetstar cadetship route will thus give you a payback in between one and two years.
* the Jetstar cadets will get into the seniority list years earlier than those going the GA route, which means they will get the benefit of much higher salaries much earlier, earning more over their careers.
* for many pilots making the jump from GA to the airlines is somewhere from difficult to impossible, so having the guaranteed airline seat at the end of your training is probably worth the $50,000 by itself.
From discussions it was apparent that 16 cadets started the recent Jetstar OAA course at Moorabbin and 15 complete their training and are atarting at Jetstar. It's a much more sure route than starting in GA as a G3 instructor doing circuits in on C152s .