In any other profession new hires are paid their salary on day one. Can you imagine a top-tier law school grad finding out that he'll be on "training pay" until he passes some test? I believe Cathay and most large foreign carriers pay salary from day one. I'll never forget my newhire check ride APD. He asks if I was tired of "bleeding Delta dry" on my training pay -- and he wasn't joking. On probation so I bit my tounge.

Then again, I have to stop and remind myself this is the "always did it this way," industry.