atlas12 Thanks for the responses fellas, but what would you say to someone who is keen on breaking into long haul but there are zero opportunities to do so here in oz. Also a direct route to the sand pit is basically impossible, I need the wide body time. Still undecided.
You just answered your own question...! What jobs/contracts are out there where you can jump into wide body flying without previous experience? There are the jobs at the sandpit, there is KAL (impossible to upgrade), I think everything in China is DEC right now and also impossible or at least very improbable to upgrade, EVA, Air Asia, Jetstar...., Air Fiji (not sure if they have an upgrade program....!) And a couple more that I'm sure to be missing.
Out of all of these options the ones that have a better combination of days off, pay, upgrade opportunity, and job stability (as stable as these jobs get anyways) in wide body flying are the jobs at the sandpit and AJX...!
Having said that......, we have no idea where this ship is headed and the utilization that ANA will give to AJX going forward is a mystery at this point, so the upgrades might be affected by it, we just don't know! Coming here you might get to the left seat on a wide body but it is a big gamble to say the least!
If wide body command at the shortest time is what you want, go to Qatar or the unmentionable one out on the sandpit, if you want the possibility of eventual left seat wide body flying but also want stability of days off & commuting conditions then try for AJX and hope that your lottery ticket gets the price, and it IS a lottery!
All I can say is apply, go to interviews at the sandpit and here, get the job offer, then you have a decision to make because without a job offer it is all academic.