Originally Posted by
Porterboy
Great question... I have no idea. The options out there aren't great. I can hardly pay my student loans where I'm at. Should've chosen another career or gone to the military in hindsight... That Michael Moore movie about being a pilot in the states applies just as much, if not more to Canada than the US right now.
Out of pure curiosity, is the 747 historically the only aircraft to be offered for DFO or do they ever offer other fleet types? If not, are you ever able to transfer or are you frozen on type for good?
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For Porterboy, I completely understand where you are coming from. I'm not sure if you have lots of experience or not. If not, then CX is an option just keep in mind that it is not a career airline especially on the COS18 package. While it does demean the rest, if it is your only option, we really are in no place to judge. Build the hours and get out. It's becoming the RyanAir of Asia. However, if you do have experience, I urge you to look around. There are many contracts in Asia at the moment that are better than COS18, such as Air Japan, even HKA commuting contract, some chinese carriers, corporate a new venture opening from Japan Airlines, etc... Even the middle east, while not much better, will give you the pay and experience to get directly into Air Canada. There are many options. I just don't see people with some experience being so desperate that career COS18 is their only choice.
MoringCoffee, I'm not here to berate you or crap all over SO's coming to join. The options you requested are as stated above. Again, for a hong kong local with no experience, I agree the cadet program is probably one of the best choices, besides funding it yourself. (Keep in mind Half of the FTA training costs, is almost the cost for a commercial multi in the USA/Canada. They would be better off funding outside of cathay and joining on an AE course with no training costs being deducted and better MPF) However, I would hope that these cadets keep in mind after training, they owe nothing to cathay, they can be expats anywhere else, and they will have options when they get their P1.
I think the point of my post is to echo what the others are saying. This is not a career airline! While I can't completely judge those without any experience joining, those who do have it and saying their are no choices in their countries, need to keep looking around. Sadly, and at the risk of turning away people with good experience, this job is not for you.