sjimmy
There are a few posts on this thread that carry similar sentiments. I find many delusional. You seem to have forgotten what you've signed and given the unprecedented circumstances of the pandemic, hold dearly to what you have, with a misperceived legacy pilot glory. However, are Cathay pilots still legacy standard pilots? The contract has deteriorated so dramatically, it's too early to define where CX pilots will actually sit when aviation rebounds. Many of my CX friends are leaving and the ones who can't are oddly eating into their savings in hope!
An experienced pilot will not find China difficult to fly in. Having been stuck behind Cathay jets for 20 years going into Hong Kong, as they often sit low and slow, sometimes on the TCAS peripherals, perhaps the best approach for China is to fly as the Chinese carriers do? It looks rank-amateur, but as you are paid similar to mainland pilots, Green Dot at 20 miles will not only keep you out of trouble, but also keep the dollars ticking over. CX don't fly visual approaches nor circle as KA did, so perhaps dumbing down the 320 operation with speed restrictions a useful tool to avoid transitionary issues into China and onto the narrow-body?
China needs to be viewed holistically. Over the years, at 300K a month, 10 weeks leave etc, a KA pilot would still be mentally done. It all gets too much. Some snapped, some just packed up quietly and left. It's the remote hotels, where you can not find food, where the government regulates the room temperature to 24 degrees in winter and you can't rest, the grind, the delays undetermined. This is the first sector. Two more to go to complete your 13 hour day. Now, I look at your contract and the seriousness with which you seem to take yourself and I can see why nobody I know, former KA, applied to CX. It's not tenable for many.
Adding to all this, the world has changed, China has changed. KA pilots well-handled being targeted during the civil disturbances in Hong Kong. Ramp checks and being monitored and reported for any indiscretion. It may well be plain hostile in the future.
So I hope you can see China isn't just about pulling off a simple intercept from above into KMG, it's going to get into the heads of a lot of people, especially on the contract you've signed.
maybe that was the case in KA but in CX you expected to behave like a future captain in any seat.
This brings us back to KMG and many former KA pilots will have a laugh. The famous CX exchange pilot we were sent, botched the approach and blamed the F/O on the ground for not explaining the traps of the approach.
But here's tip for three sectors into China. Don't worry about the silliness of having a 200hr pilot behave like a Captain. Relax a bit. You'll wear out your crew- if the white noise hadn't already done so.