Well the first batch is perhaps lucky, there won't be a ton of upgrades I can assure you ! Put out an advertisement and you'll get hundreds of qualified people , far far simpler than an uograde program!
Yeah it's very indicative about the sad state of affairs at EK where they have to take a brand new ATPL from an MPL background , shows you how desperate things have gotten
Yeah you still pay the bond of you leave
Alpha is a joke , completely disorganized and full of folk who think they are better than everyone else .
This is an expensive risky gig where many are stuck at the moment , if you had half a brain you would figure a more efficient way to get a career going