Originally Posted by
Asturias56
"During the 1980s Cathay was the best paid airline job in the world for those on the "A" scale, industrial relations were good, Hong Kong was still under British rule. The Middle East 3 didn't exist and CX was a premium long haul airline and the gateway airline into a rapidly opening up China.
Recruitment was highly selective and most applicants were rejected. Captains from other airlines joined as first officers and often doubled their pay. No one left for any other airline, if you got in you were made for life and retired a UK pound millionaire in the days when that meant something."
Kris - did people think it would continue forever? Or did they recognise that it was very likely to change - especially when you were being paid more than US pilots, BA, Air France etc
I'm genuinely interested as a lot of the bitterness expressed on here about CX seems to be a an overwhelming feeling of betrayal................
It’s not just a betrayal of CX, it’s a betrayal of the profession. I don’t care what anyone says about these wonderful cadet programs, level D simulators, and modern airliners “that fly themselves”. Stuff happens when metal flies around at high speeds, and the lack of experience in the right seats is getting ridiculous.
It’s often a babysitting job for the captains. Notice I didn’t say training captains, because they signed up for it. CX will have a hull loss in the next decade or two. It will very likely be, in part or whole, pilot error. CX has decided that’s ok and that they are insured / financially insulated to handle it. These low-time, magenta line followers are a liability, especially during non-normals, which are becoming more frequent due to declining maintenance standards at CX. We all know it. They even know it, most of them anyways. To say it’s ok is to devalue the profession and human life itself.
These low timers ought to be flying props and turboprops, military aircraft with ejection seats and/or proper supervision, not widebodies with 300 plus paying passengers. It’s actually better for them in the long run as aviators than growing up inbred in the CX system. It’s a recipe for disaster, but like most things CX, nobody cares anymore.