Originally Posted by
MrAndy
Re: 5-7 years before upgrade. I don't know what they tell people during the interview these days, but I do know that up to 7 years have been thrown around a lot on these forums at various points over the last decade (maybe longer), and it has never been that long. No one has done more than 5 years, and at present, SOs are getting upgraded at around the 4 year mark. The upgrade time is based on seniority, and it will depend on how many SOs are in front of you when you join, how many gets upgraded each year, or how many SOs in front leaves the company. Given the current rate, and the fact that the HKCAD says (in one of their documents) those who hold restricted type ratings are expected to be fully rated at 5 years, it will still likely be 4-5 years. This said, take my numbers, or any numbers you see on this forum with a grain of salt, because no one really knows what can happen in 5 years.
Re: training costs. If you do a full cadetship, I believe you have to pay for half the training under the new contract, which is deducted from your salary over your first few years. To my knowledge, you don't have to pay if you already have an ATPL, or even a CPL.
Re: Tax. Around 15%.
Thanks for this information, now it makes more sense and gives me abit more clarity on the matter, especially with that 50% training cost issue. Do you recall which document of the HKCAD speaks about the restricted type Rating? Would love to have a read.
Cheers