Originally Posted by
Curtain rod
No. The "DECs" were hired just like everyone else, at the bottom of the list, on the prevailing contract at the time: Join as an SO, or a freighter FO on a base for 3 yrs, back when the freighter operation was only semi-integrated back into CX (pax 747 captains didn't have to fly the freighters unless they wanted to, and then approx 2007 all 747 captains had to also fly freighter if they wanted a temporary basing, and then in 2008 everybody had to, period).
But, back then, as new hires on Day 1, anyone could apply to become a freighter-only captain on super crappy freighter pay on a base, which soon came to include the new HKG freighter base, without housing but with reduced 24K allowance for captains. Thanks, idiots. Back then, anyone could change base to anywhere almost anytime in any country, and even be based at one place but have their roster based somewhere else, anywhere else (secret private deals, thanks, idiots), completely playing into the company's plan to skip all basing, seniority and contractual agreements while keeping FOs in HKG waiting for commands while all the idiots filled the 747 captain positions at lower pay and no housing. Thanks, idiots, for showing the company how much we're worth.
So, in effect, they were DECs, but they were not DEC, just freighter-only DECs on different, lower pay on the crappiest deal with the worst rosters and a long, long wait -forever for most, as it turned out - to get off the freighter. Most are still waiting hopelessly. They joined as FOs and then filled the endless available freighter-only captain positions that nobody else wanted.
Then, in 2008, the last of the ASL pilots were integrated into CX at the bottom of the seniority list (freighter-only captains forever, not enough years til retirement to get "pax" seniority to keep flying freighters anyways since no type changes here) but still on the non-existent crappy pay scale from before. By 2010, the last of the freighter captain fiasco finally came to an end with the last of those command courses, bases like SYD and YVR were overloaded with freigher-only captains (and little to no 747 freighter flights - so now they complain about too much PT they got in exchange for voluntarily taking crappy jobs at crappy pay to get bases ahead of more senior crew all while screwing HKG-based FO's out of an earlier promotion on full HKG terms including housing, thanks idiots), and freighter-only command courses were no longer offered on the bases or anywhere on the lower freighter terms, and then all commands were the same from then on, all HKG-based and anyone on a base had to come back to HKG for command unless they waited forever for a captain slot on a base (uhm, that only happened a bit on the 747, 6-7 yrs later or so, I think). Got that?
.