STW
If you’re on CN4 and own your own place, and your kids are gone, then yes you will still be better off financially staying in HKG, assuming you can stand the insanity. If you’re CN1/2 (or worse FO1/2), renting and with kids in school, it’s a different ballgame. In these scenarios you’re looking at spending most of your monthly income for the world’s most expensive rents and tuition, let alone food (and fuggedabout savings).
Since you bring up Aerologic, from a mate of mine joining them I do believe that’s actually a pretty decent contract, with proper benefits (ie a proper pension, Lufthansa travel benefits etc) and certainly more than shambolic pay (although they do work them hard).
You mention rosters from hell: I don’t know about yours, but mine doesn’t come out until the 27th, contains little to nothing of what I asked for, and what little there is gets taken away on day of ops. This isn’t even necessarily our employer’s fault, they need to cater to continuously changing rules and CHP’s zero-covid “strategy”.
Finally, while some airlines do still layover in HKG and risk “prison”, it’s only an occasional risk, and their families and friends won’t be involved. They only see the midfield concourse now and again, and are paid an allowance for that additional hardship (while many of us are logging more “hard white chair” time than flying time).
For us it’s a continuous sword of Damocles: at any moment your phone could ring advising that you and your loved ones are about to be carted off to PB, because you happened to position with some unlucky soul last week or unwittingly shared a taxi home with them the other day.
Good jobs are really only available in the US right now, for the rest, pick your poison depending on personal circumstances.