Flyer25, what's an "O" Day? Well, I will try to explain since I was asked in a private message. I have previously posted that HKA lost a labour case in Jan 2017 due to their use of unpaid STBY's days. Previously, STBY days were not paid days. You simply had to be ready to head to the airport when called and it was an 8 hour duty at various time slots. It's a bit like Emirates' old system of having a month of reserve duty except here you had STBY days every month. When I was there you can have as many as 11-12 days of STBYs, unpaid and even 6 days in a row of STBYs.
Why so many STBY days? Listen, I don't think many people quite get it when they are from the Americas or Europe or Australia where having time off and work rights can be imbued into the culture. Don't get me wrong these former places are changing in the same as you find in Asia.
But every time I mention that I worked for HKA to a Chinese Pilot, they say," oh you worked for Hainan. "
Why, because HKA is a Chinese company in Hong Kong plain and simple. As such, it's governance and corporate culture follows. So, time off is not a right. It's a privilege. Let me say that again, it's a privilege
HKA is a very controlling company, they want to micromanage every aspect of your life. You live to work not work to live. You live in accords to what HKA grants you and you should be happy with the master's generosity because without them you would not be flying a A320 or A330 or A350 and walking around in your pilot uniform struggling to survive in Hong Kong.
Listen, I have always said HKA is a fantastic training company, a place to pick up a type, but not a place to stay. If you need a job and willing to grind it out a bit, please it is a place you can land and regroup and try to escape when you are healthy again. It can be a very difficult place to escape because you will have just enough to keep you coming back to work but not enough to really mount a happy escape. But if you have options, chose to be happy and work somewhere else or stay with the evil you already know.
I just read a post of a guy waiting for his call from HKA. He said they were very friendly and so nice and so good to him. I guess for the guys that have been around a long time and changed a few companies. You just have to laugh. I keep saying, it's like a first date with a woman or guy. The first date tells you nothing really about the other person; you just met! Same with interviews, it almost always feels good. The company rolls out the most handsome or prettiest or the nice training facility. [Oh by the way, HKA is building training facility in Tung Chung. From what I remember, it was to have 10 bays. But most would also be leased out to Hainan and other entities.]
It feels good. What I and most of the guys and gals talk about from these post is really the experience that comes after you are hired and get to look behind the curtains or under the covers. And what lies at HKA, is not a grass is greener type of operation, fews places are really. But if you are young, full of piss and venom and you need a start in your career, you can try HKA. But if you are older and with a family; then you will probably have less tolerance for a place like HKA. Plus when you are in you raging 20's maybe early 30's.....god I miss those days. You can afford a few adventures. But as you get older, it not so easy to land at places that just stresses you and your family out. So, back to how the "O" days impact that happiness!
The court said to HKA, you can either pay the pilot group more vacation time and/or pay for the days. So, HKA being defiant, went back into there conference rooms and engineered a way around the court order. Hence, the "O" day. Effectively, it keeps in place the STBY days without looking like STBY days.
So flyer25, why not go back to court and fight it? because the last case took a few years to begin with....plus most people I think are pretty beaten down and lack any will to fight the system.
Now, you get about a 100 USD a day for your STBY days now if you are a CAPTAIN. But HKA doesn't want to pay that money to you. If you can imagine, that would give you an extra $1000 a month for STBY days for your 8 hours/STBY days.
They still have STBy days as codes on the schedule. But STBY days can be converted to "O" days. So, you see 10 STBY days and you start planning what you will do with the extra $1000 USD. But if your STBY days are suddenly convert at anytime HKA wants, then your new "O" days are not paid JUST LIKE THE OLD SYSTEM OF STBY's before the court case. The "O" day is in effect until the last day of your flight duty. In other words, the "O" is generally placed at the end of a block of flight duty days. At the end of you last flight duty day, you will see 1 or 2 days of "O" days or you can have STBY days converted to "O" days.
When you finish your flight duty, if the crew schedule has not called you after your duty, then the "O" day because a day off. If you have 2 "O" days together, if you are not given something for the first day, then the second is also a day off; so both go to days off. Again, "O" days are not PAID days. You just have to plan to be called until 30 minutes past your last flight assignment blocks in. Then if not called, you can tell your kids that daddy or mommy can come to their soccer game or you can plan your day off with your wife finally. Keep in mind, with a STBY day, you have an 8 hour block to wait on STBY and are paid for a few pence for it.
Like I have said, you can't make this stuff up. But my friends that are at HKA say, they get a lot of STBY days converted to "O" days.
So, now you know and can make a more informed decision or ask about it at your interview before you join.