I accept that for many younger generation Pilots, it comes as a real disappointment, to have to be considering maybe other career options, when you have only just got started on your preferred and chosen one and most likely have spent a lot of money in getting qualified with your early Licences. However, the way the world is at the moment and most likely to be for a few more years, as economic belts tighten around the world and Recessions set in, it is something that has to be taken seriously and unless you have income support from somewhere, you won’t be able to just sit around and go surfing, or whatever your fancy is.
Obviously there are some careers that would entail some serious study commitment for quite a few years, in order to get a qualification, such as in the Medical field, Lawyers, Architects, Civil, Mechanical and Electrical Engineers, Vets for example and then in the Financial sectors, Banking and Accounting and the list is extensive. There are also many other career options, that don’t need such a commitment and many have been mentioned above in earlier posts, many in the transport side of things and the Tradies side of the building industry. I believe that there has been a significant interest from Air NZ crews here, not only in the cockpit, but cabin services as well, for joining the Police force, which would definitely be an interesting and varied career. I think becoming a Detective would be an interesting, challenging and satisfying career and there are many areas in Law and Policing that need good people. Commercial and IT Fraud for examples.
A lot of people have decided to open their own business and whilst this can be rewarding, I know from my own experiences, it is also fraught with difficulty and issues and the risk of failure is very high indeed, with a lot of stress, time, effort and funds at stake. Trying to run your own business, is not an undertaking to be taken lightly, please trust me on this and I am still feeling the pain. I know one `High Flyer’ here in Auckland, who had a medical condition a few year ago and decided to give it away and he bought a lawn mowing franchise and he said he wished he had done it years ago. He is as happy as anything and his health is in good shape again.
We all get too focused on status, ego and getting paid high salaries and I am willing to admit that I was right up there in that category and I and many others, enjoyed the lifestyle we had in `the good old days’ of the earlier Cathay years. As many of us have learned the hard way over the years, money does not always buy happiness and if you are not happy in what you are doing anymore, whether it is because the Company has changed, or you have changed, you have to ask yourself, `why am I still doing this’? I know it is a difficult treadmill to get off, as we all enjoy our nice houses and lifestyle, good schooling for the kids, fancy Clubs and expensive toys, nice holidays etc etc, but what do you have to sacrifice, with regard to personal happiness and wellbeing, in order to have that lifestyle?
How important is the money that comes with higher salaries, if it means that your own life is not a happy one and as is so often the case, often leads to a Divorce and saying good bye to a very large chunk of the money you thought was so important, along with all the dramas and stress that separating usually causes in families. I know I am being negative, but I am telling the truth and what is a very high statistic and I am speaking from personal experience, having ticked that box.
With regard to Hong Kong and the Airlines there and for the foreseeable future, how optimistic and positive are you, that things are going to get better for you as a Pilot and also living there? With tensions escalating between China and the USA and also the various other countries around South East Asia, particularly between China and Taiwan, how do you think things will be, if it all gets ugly there? If the Taiwan situation escalates into a serious situation, what do you really see is the future of Hong Kong’s various Airlines and do you really want to be living on a lowish salary, in a tiny and badly designed apartment, with all the restrictive Laws and conditions, that will and are being imposed on by the Communists over the border? Is this going to be the best place to bring up your family, just so you can continue to be a Pilot, or whilst you try for another position elsewhere? How many countries will be keen to accept Cathay, for example, flying to them, if and when China goes at it? Flying domestically in China was a lesson in frustration and not something I would want to be doing over a career.
Whilst I am not too sure what is going on in Cathay and Dragonair, or CX Dragon at the moment, along with the various Unions, it seems to be another lesson in the definition of insanity, if they keep making the same mistakes and expecting things to get better. Why on earth would Cathay Management bring back the two gentlemen, SK and CH, to be involved with whatever is going on now, when these two gents were part of the problem in the first place. We need a different team, mindset and approach, otherwise it is just repeating what has gone on before and which didn’t work. I will state for the record though, that there were faults on both sides, at different times and it is not going to be easy and simple to fix and you certainly won’t be pleasing everybody in every area, that’s for sure.
If you did embark on a new career and in a few year’s time, there was an actual shortage of Pilots world-wide, or if you really, really wanted to get back into it, then you could. You don’t forget your skills, or need complete retraining. You may be a bit rusty for sure and some cobwebs need dusting off, but it would not take long to get back into it again and if flying into China and all night over India and the Pacific rings your bell, then go for it. As I have said earlier, there were many, many times that I asked myself, `why am I doing this’ and I wished I had listened!
Best Regards.
PH