South Asia and Far East WannabesA forum for those applying to Cathay Pacific, Dragonair or any other Hong Kong-based airline or operator. Use this area for both Direct Entry Pilot and Cadet-scheme queries.
for the april obs, those who made it into that batch have already been notified. how they usually work is once the new batch has left for obs, the next batch of cadets will then be informed. so to know the next obs date, you got to wait for the april batch to leave for obs. they r leaving end of this month. as far as i know, there are alot of people who have cleared their interviews and medical but yet to receive a starting date. these ppl most likely will be slotted in for the coming batches. however, i think they are still going to conduct some interviews. no doubt its going to be v competitive due to the massive cut in the cadet intake. just my 2 cents worth. all the best to all those who r in the waiting game.
Like someone mentioned earlier, it takes almost 2 years if not longer to train a pilot, and even then he still needs another year or two to become truly productive (i.e. making money for the company). All in all, this could be somewhere between 3 to 4 years.
Notice that the pilots being asked to take leave are relatively senior as compared to the trainees. The duration is somewhere between 6 months to 1 year.
Combine this two facts and you will notice that SIA expects that this year, the aviation industry will be slow in general. They are also expecting an improvement in the coming years. This is supported by marco economic trends such as US posting better and better economic indicators and EU slowly pulling themselves out of the debt mess. Last but not least, the prospects of oil in Brazil and Africa would provide an increase in air traffic demand.
Hence, it is imperative to start recruitment and training now to meet future demand needs, while cutting costs in the interim. Personally I think they are trying to save up as much cash as possible so that when demand rises, they can afford to purchase the necessary equipment without relying too much on external finance, which can get very expensive. Moreover, having cash on hand would mean the company will be in a better position to mitigate raising costs, especially given how oil prices rise with better economic prospects.
TL : DR version: SIA is doing so to meet both short term and long term needs.
Hey guys.. say if someone applies freshly now.. how long will it take to be called for interview considering the current backlogs and economic slowdown?
Well, since it's closed, just go on n get a job after graduation, pay off that school loan as much as possible. N if u're really that passionate about aviation, there are ground positions available in SIA
I too am getting more dismayed by the dimming hope of getting into the flightdeck. More applicants, cost-cutting, spiralling fuel prices, etc.
I did consider paying for the CPL, but its really a huge gamble. I've worked for the past 2-3 years after graduation and probably have enough to pay for half of the CPL. But without a reasonable offer of a flying job, I would be a an arse to plant all my savings into a CPL. Flying schools are as desperate for money as we are for the golden cadetship.
True though, getting your own CPL/MEIR at M'sia will be more "affordable", but i guess it'll still incur around S$100k, personal expenses not included.
No part time, full times courses spanning 18months, it's a huge gamble to take. N at the end of it, if u can't get a gd paying flying job, it's really a smack in the face.
At the end of the day, u really gotta ask urself how strong is your passion in this field, it is worth all that trouble
