Hi Raven..
I respect your position on how you feel about having an experienced companion sitting next to you when things don't go as expected.
The CX fuel contamination is a classic example and I still to this day use that as an example to the young sprouts when discussing why they need to be able to think outside of a scripted scenario that they have played many times over leading up to a sim check.
However, industrial issues aside, aviation has changed in the last 45 years where the industry now has very little opertunities for new pilots to build experience outside of a major airline.
Due to this, most airlines including smaller turboprop operators are now forced to offer cadet schemes to fill there pilot needs and cx/Ka are no different.
Bringing in DEFO's will be great if the group attracts the right people with not only experience but quality experience from respectable groundings.
Given the job opportunities on offer right now throughout Asia, I very much doubt that we will attract these people.
So Raven, it's trainers like you that need to step up and deliver to these kids the 45 years of real life experience that you've developed, that they won't have had the benefit of experiencing first hand.
In the meantime AT, take a look at what the rest of Asia are offering right now... The DEFO's have options outside of CX..