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.
I'm new on this forum... Have applied for the CX Second Officer Cadet Pilot Programme. Applied early this year (february). No real calls yet for stage 1. have been working in Aircraft Maintenance on a 19 (+3 crew) seater plane for more than 18months now. I hold a Bachelors degree (4yrs) in Engineering. specialized in Electrical & Electronics. But ZERO hrs of flying How would I fit in into a pilot's seat? How is this Second officer programme?Is it a wise choice to make for someone who is passionate about flying and doesnt have funds to get a Cpl on his own. How is it on the long run? How is CX on the whole? 'one of the best to work for' sort of?? Kindly help..
I'm new on this forum... Have applied for the CX Second Officer Cadet Pilot Programme. Applied early this year (february). No real calls yet for stage 1. have been working in Aircraft Maintenance on a 19 (+3 crew) seater plane for more than 18months now. I hold a Bachelors degree (4yrs) in Engineering. specialized in Electrical & Electronics. But ZERO hrs of flying How would I fit in into a pilot's seat? How is this Second officer programme?Is it a wise choice to make for someone who is passionate about flying and doesnt have funds to get a Cpl on his own. How is it on the long run? How is CX on the whole? 'one of the best to work for' sort of?? Kindly help.. Thanx.
ppl in the previous pg are saying that CX is no longer hiring ppl with zero flight hrs without hkid for 61 weeks cadet program. i cant say that is true for sure because the website still says other foreigners can still apply for 61 weeks, but hkid is given priority. So i guess you can wait out or call Sunny Sign for more inquiry. hope that helps
ppl in the previous pg are saying that CX is no longer hiring ppl with zero flight hrs without hkid for 61 weeks cadet program. i cant say that is true for sure because the website still says other foreigners can still apply for 61 weeks, but hkid is given priority. So i guess you can wait out or call Sunny Sign for more inquiry. hope that helps
actually you are just making ppl more confused. it is already confirmed that they are not hiring people without HKID's for the ab initio program. They do the interviews, but the ppl without HKID's wont get placement until something changes from the government; even if they pass all the stages.
it is already confirmed that they are not hiring people without HKID's for the ab initio program
Where is that confirmed? If its in writing on CX or HK Immigration sites please provide a link. If you are just talking about people in this thread claiming that its confirmed, then its not confirmed.
Eligibility Criteria 20. Applicants who are not non-local graduates but possess special skills, knowledge or experience of value to and not readily available in the HKSAR may apply to come to work under the GEP. 21. An application for a visa/ entry permit to take up employment under the GEP may be favourably considered if:
there is no security objection and no known record of serious crime in respect of the applicant;
the applicant has a good education background, normally a first degree in the relevant field, but in special circumstances, good technical qualifications, proven professional abilities and/or relevant experience and achievements supported by documentary evidence may also be accepted;
there is a genuine job vacancy;
the applicant has a confirmed offer of employment and is employed in a job relevant to his academic qualifications or working experience that cannot be readily taken up by the local work force; and
the remuneration package including income, accommodation, medical and other fringe benefits is broadly commensurate with the prevailing market level for professionals in the HKSAR.
As people keep saying, CX tried it on, the HKG immigration said no but were surprisingly forgiving for a government agency and allowed those already in the system to continue.
For the moment and foreseeable future you need a permanent HKID if applying for ab-initio as you bring no skill or experience that can't be found locally.
To be honest I think CX are still pushing it a bit with regard to number 2 and only a CPL/IR and 250hrs requirement.
Even those who started interviews prior to the hkid issue were also affected. Iam one of them (stage 1 Dec 2011 and stage 2/3 on Feb 2012) and have a few mates on the same fate. They told me that I have a deferral of 1 year.
@flapsupdown. Was to have an Icao retest this month before I head for grading but I was told that I have a 12 months deferral due to the HK immigration ruling. If I happen to be called again *sceptical on that* I was told I will start from stage 2. So another stage 2 after 12 months!
On an overnight in HK and was reading the Sth China Morning Post yesterday:
HK housing prices ROSE by 80%(yes, EIGHTY PERCENT) since 2009.
So, your $10,000 HKD housing allowance over a 4 year period is worth in real terms $2000 HKD. Your $46,000 a month is now worth $38,000 a month.
We make mention of living in shoe boxes in HK. With that depreciating housing allowance which so many of you deem acceptable to sell your souls to is now getting outside of your reach. That housing allowance can't afford you a shoe box! So you want to share an apartment you say. Great, so 3 x iCadets combining their (now, in real terms) $6000 HKD a month to rent what?
It does not make any financial sense to sign that insulting iCadet contract - not to mention all the other reasons of professional integrity.
When are you kids going to look LONG TERM and show one tiny piece of responsibility toward your profession and career? Still thinking of raising a family (single income with 1 or 2 kids of your own) one day on that salary package and contract?
Location: As far away as possible from some idiots
Posts: 101
Some food for thought for you guys out there:
I learned to fly long before cadet schemes came into the aviation world. I was 24 years of age when I started and had to pay for my own flying training, working many hours night shift to get extra pay. I took my annual leave to attend CPL and ATPL ground school and wrote my exams on my 'off days'
I was 30 years old on my first turboprop conversion and had a training bond for 4 years for that privelage. Up till then I lived in converted single garages on the large properties of the more well-off citizens.
Only at the age of 35 I managed to secure a bank loan big enough to buy myself a 2 bedroom townhouse in a very average neighbourhood in my home town.
I sometimes listen to the cadets and wonder if they really appreciate the opportunity that they are getting ?
How so? What did I write that you believe us exaggerated or untrue?
There's also a show called "Banged Up Abroad". (No pun intended but perhaps quite apt). It's about people, usually young, ignorant & naive, trying to find a short cut to getting what they want. They don't wish to work hard & sacrifice time & effort toward achieving their goal. They do a deal with the devil and only then too late discover the real truths & consequences of their selective stupidity. Their captors are typically highly aggressive, corrupt & act without a care of written laws or other formal signed agreements.
I'd say that show is bang-up your street with respect to the iCadetship you defend. An agreement with a known & proven corrupt, ruthless & deceitful company (refer to price fixing scandals, 49ers court case purgery, CoS 99, CoS 08, sign or be fired tactics, etc) & then held (bonded) for a prescribed time period.......
Guys like Nirak earned their stripes, & along with that earned respect. But I will disagree with one thing he wrote. The iCadetship is no "opportunity" for them per se. It is an opportunity for a money grab by CX management at the expense of ignorant & naive wannabes, plain & simple. And who said a fool & his money are easilly parted
CX iCadets are by no means selected from the best pool of talent out there. They are those left over from those with true experience & credentials who refuse to apply. As has been said before, you're the cheapest option. Nothing more, nothing less.
Last edited by ChinaBeached; 29th Jul 2012 at 07:54.
On second thoughts, I think you might enjoy 'Friends'. Unfortunately this programme repeats itself over and over and over again around a very predictable story line. Lots of people have begun to simply ignore it and see it as nothing more than the broadcast of 'samey' pollution. But give it a go, you might just find some value in it?
Location: As far away as possible from some idiots
Posts: 101
I am not defending either the motives or practices of CX. I have never worked at CX either.
I am merely trying to say that the previous generation of pilots had to work their way up from light twins, turboprops, etc to eventually end up as a SFO on a shiny jet with a somewhat decent salaryand a few thousand hours TT. The Aviation industry is a difficult environment, has always been.
It appears to me that the cadets expect to earn vast amounts of money and buy family size homes in the most expensive city when they have only a few hundred hours experience under the belt. They are only spared the slugging away on a delapidated light twin or turboprop. The previous generation also earned peanuts during their low-time years.
They seem to be even unhappy having to make good a number of years at CX. Getting paid a salary even during their training period, doing Zero-to-Hero in just over a year. It took me over 7 years to get my PPL to ATPL (subjects) part time and another 2 years full time flying to get my full ATPL.
Just a question to some of these impatient ones..... If you are a B777 or A320 Captain by the age of 30, what are you going to keep yourself interested with until your retirement at 65 or 70 ? Complaining about the boring airline food, the useless cabin crew, bitch all day about your 'right to get confirmed rebate travel' and... and .... and....
Aviation is a life long journey with many peaks and troughs. Beautifull views may become scary ones too. Making lifelong friends that may bring you lots of happyness or strenious proffessional and personal relationships.
It takes many years: lots of hard work, lots of stresses and strains, lots of practice, and above all, lots of patience...
I sometimes wonder if the cadets do not miss out on some 'real flying' by not doing the 'regional turboprop fight-it-out in the thunderstorm and icing' experience as a young and enthusiastic pilot. I have found it to be a very good learning school for both myself and my flying skills. Today, they are also the source of my best flying memories and passenger stories, especially after the cockpit door became locked (post 9/11). Without that, airline flying is very much 'just transport' / computer sidekick, etc...
So just commute from Thailand, buddy of mine does as an SO. Has a great time, money goes a lot further and has a really nice pad in Bangkok! 6x CX flights a day and not to mention quite a few other airlines! Who says you have to live in Hong Kong!
But i'm sure some negative Joe on here is going to come up with some reason to shot this down too. Some people really are so negative!
Thanks to JJ, finally received some positive feedback! LOL I am a single flight instructor but not very young, still hoping to fly big jets one day and make my dream come true! I have no problem living in a small apartment near the airport - In fact, I am currently living in a small room inside a flight school (it's basically an old house) located on an airport property!! ...
I know that it may seem "ok" to you to be living in a hangar at the airport, but the aviation scene in Canada is seriously messed up.
With all due respect, if you think that it's ok for a potential 777/330/350 captain to be living in what amounts to no more than squalor, you're a fool.
Go to Westjet, AC, Transat, Perimeter...whatever - but stay away from here. Please. You and your sort are a blight on the industry.
jj - so where or how did I exaggerate? What part of this confused you??
Quote:
(I did a search on apartments min 200 to max 500 sq ft in Central. Try changing the fields for any other part of HK and see what $2000 a month will get you, or consider your ever depreciating $10,000).
You obviously lack the capacity to read and fully comprehend information - hence the iCadet contract suits you well. You read and believe what you want to, but not what it is.
Your immaturity and ignorance of the profession you wish to be a part also shines through. Because you know some people earning $20k a month with 2 kids it's OK for this profession to be lowered to that level of remuneration? Do those locals need to send their kids to international schools due language barriers? Do they get access to the local health system a supposed to non permanent residents, is their family many 1000's of miles away on foreign shores, is their "profession" one in which they are responsible for many millions of dollars of hardware, not mention hundreds of lives, and so on? No kid - it's not quite apples and apples, is it? See kid, it "used to be" a profession taking years of dedication and sacrifice to earn the right to fly for an airline as CX once was. Not any more due to the likes of yourself. I'll wager you live at home with mummy and daddy, have never paid your own rent, your own bills, looked at a LONG TERM plan for retirement. The CX cadetship was only ever designed to support the local HK community (quote RH as recently as 2 years ago) but then scum like him are able to use it to attract and other sucker to the job in order to feather his own nest. He says CX need to change to reflect the industry as a whole - so where's his sacrifice? Where's the slicing and dicing of his remuneration package? Ooops... His has increased through salary increases, bonuses, etc all on the backs of ignorant wannabes.
rdane - if you haven't the ability to show some respect to yourself, try to do so to the profession at the very least.
vero - I'm happy your mate has shown some form of intelligence and is making the most of the sh!t sandwich he signed. I will assume eventually he will have to move to HK. For those at CX please correct me if I'm wrong. So what happens when he's stuck in HK and can't get home to BKK or flights don't coincide with his roster? I assume he'll have to pay for a hotel in HK every now and again. Eventually this sh!t sandwich of a contract will catch up to him. Once again, none of you look LONG TERM. You all look the here and now and Shiny Jet Syndrome you think you've earned by selling out to a greedy and immoral company.
The likes of banged, jj and rdane are all the same types who down the track will scream that pilots are their own worse enemy when it comes to sticking together to maintain their professional integrity, supporting standards and their job security, not to mention remuneration. You wilfully contribute to the lowering of the profession through your actions.
You get what you deserve: pay bananas, get monkeys. You're the cheapest option. How proud you must be.
Last edited by ChinaBeached; 30th Jul 2012 at 06:03.
Is anyone here who has applied to the cadet pilot program and has successfully gotten in to the program? I'm in my third-year of my unviersity degree and thinking of applying to the program. The thing I'm kinda worried about is the medical check assessment. I know your body condition not only has to be good, but has to be top-shaped to get involved in the industry. My body condition seems fine at the moment but I'm not sure if I'm qualified to become a pilot in terms of my health condition. Do you think, speaking in your perspective, I should do a medical check in advance before applying to any of the program?
Help guys
How would I fit in into a pilot's seat? How is this Second officer programme?Is it a wise choice to make for someone who is passionate about flying and doesnt have funds to get a Cpl on his own. How is it on the long run? How is CX on the whole? 'one of the best to work for' sort of?? 
Kindly help..
SloppyJoe ... and just to point out.. the key point is #4
