To be absolutely honest, I don't
know but you may be okay. Rumour Control suggests they want around 240 pilots but nobody seems to be able to confirm that. At the moment we have about 216, including the class in the groundschool. There are two, possibly three, guys leaving so I would surmise they need at least three classes next year and possibly four. Now, the important thing is I have absolutely no idea how many pilots are in the holding pool and waiting for those classes, neither do I have any idea of the 'strength' of those applicants. Come to that, I have no idea if they consider the 'strength' of the applicant over when they did the selection.....it's all a recruiting mystery that only the Japanese will know about.
If you're keen to do the job then my advice would be to get the ball rolling. Lodge your application and explain to whichever contract agency you're using about the A320 rating and the expected date of completion. They are obviously not going to send you to Japan for selection until you're qualified but they can pencil you in for one of the dates from December onwards and assume you will be by then.
I don't think this contract is suddenly going to dry up completely.
IF the 240 pilots rumour is true then they are still going to need to recruit now and then to account for normal attrition but many fewer classes would be required and the gaps between classes much larger than they are now. I imagine they would also be able to be far more choosy if they had many applicants for few slots.
Finally, please remember this is all based on rumour. If we change aircraft type then that may affect numbers. If there's another huge earthquake that might do something for recruiting. Only the Japanese really know what's going on and we are not privy to those thoughts
