Originally Posted by
lessonlearnt
Join as a DEFO is probably even worse off, because yes you get paid more cash but you are all the way at the bottom of the seniority list. So you have to wait for everyone to upgrade to CAPT before you. You will be very frustrated that you passed by pilots probably that have 1000's of hours less experience than you and know nothing about the aviation world - goodluck. I say come here get the rating and leave.
Is that so?! That sounds kind of backwards, but then again, I guess seniority is the rule of the land and so I suppose it's fair. On the bright side, I'm sure it would be a little easier to be stuck on FO wages for 10 years, than on SO pay which has become a bit of a joke with only 70% guaranteed.
This whole thread and the others are so discouraging to read. I long considered moving to Hong Kong and working at Cathay to be my ultimate career goal. I was thinking of heading over to Sunwing to get some time on a jet and for those lucrative summer European bases, and then apply to Cathay as a DFO (I don't think I could handle multiple years of sitting in the jumpseat). But holy reading this forum has made me reconsider my 'plan.' It's really frustrating to watch my dream being torn apart.
Honestly, it's frustrating just being a Canadian in general right now. They say there's a pilot shortage here, but all the majors here pay poverty wages for the first couple of years, have ****ty fatigue rules, etc etc.. and I wouldn't feel that proud working for any of them. Going overseas seemed like a much better alternative, especially Cathay and to a lesser extent, Emirates. But I guess that's not the case anymore. It appears that the only place one can go and make some decent money with decent working conditions is mainland china, which I'm not sure if I could handle for long. I thought about doing the Qantaslink thing on the Dash 8, but I get the impression that foreign pilots are really not appreciated there, and I can sort of see why. Have some family and friends there so that's too bad. Guess I'm going to just have to suck it up and live in the parents basement for the next little while..
