Are there a lack of Trainers? hmm, Maybe.
Is a lack of trainers causing reduced base slots? Come on, wake up and smell the Illy Coffee guys.
I'll tell you why. Around 2 years ago to 18 months ago, BEFORE Contract Compliance happened, we were already hearing numbers about a shortage of trainers. Random BS numbers would be talked about on the Bus to the plane, in the Gay Bar, after a sim "Oh I heard we are short by 50 on the Airbus, 30 on the Tripla" blah blah blah...zzzz
Take a look at The Trainers' Home page- updated July 2015. I can assure you there is a lot more MUG shots on those pages than there were 2 years ago. An example being the BTC team of the Airbus, 3 newly promoted. AND all three are AOA members.
And I can also assure you that there is a lot more MUG shots going to be added to those pages in the next few months.
You have to hand it to Cathay Pacific. In a time of Contact Compliance where the AOA have specifically stated NOT to take a training slot, they have actually increased the numbers in the C&T team.
Lack of trainers causing no base slots? Yeah, whatever.