Originally Posted by
Diogenes.
'Back to TikTok'?! How dare you, you arrogant old fool?! Come on then! Tell the World why it was so wonderful, flying with the ‘Hamsters’, and not so wonderful flying with Cathay’s own cadets.
For those who don’t read ancient history, the ‘Hamsters’ were British Airways ab initio cadets who got their CPL at a flying school called Hamble. They had no war stories to tell because they were civilians and they weren’t ex-Annset either. Indeed, they weren’t even Austranauts and hadn’t droned around the outback like Sky Gods of the Dreamtime! A direct background comparison of the so-called ‘Hamsters’ would be Cathay cadets, except the Hamsters were exclusively white, male, A-Scalers. And its the word ‘exclusively’ that you should take note of.
I flew with a couple of Hamsters myself, and as I recall, they were indeed gentleman of the highest calibre. It’s a shame the same couldn’t be said of the A-Scalers in general. I put it to you Mole that you look upon those halcyon days because you fantasise that the Hamsters were somehow a reflection of yourself, but the sad fact is, pilots of 'my generation' won’t need to be reminded of the story of Narcissus gazing lustfully into his pool. At least Uncle Rod got one thing right, the A-scalers were just a bunch of ‘millionaire morons’. His words not mine, but then again he never flew with the A-scalers. I would have said the A-scalers were just a bunch of 'sad, spiteful, multi-millionaire, misogynistic, masonic malcontents', who were only ever interested in feathering their own nests. Nests, which by the way, were already the most highly feathered nests since archaeopteryx. They took, took, took and gave nothing back to their junior colleagues but contempt. And the archive of this very forum is a comprehensive testament to that fact.
There is now a very real prospect of Cathay failing. Literally thousands of good men and women out of a job through no fault of their own. Young professionals who put an application in to Cathay in good faith, and who had every right to expect to treated as fellow professionals. But, irrespective of whether Cathay fails or not, it’s already over. Cos18 is already a reality, and the blame for that abomination can be laid firmly and squarely at the feet of the A-scale leadership, or lack there of. Don’t blame the Swires, they’re just a bunch of dopes who couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery. All the Swires ever did was take advantage of A-scale greed and cowardice. The only strategy that the A-scalers ever employed to defend their COS was to be nasty to their junior colleagues in the beleaguered hope that enough would resign to bother the Swires. Well, how did that work out Mole? Proud of yourself? Were you one of the more than 50% of the A-scalers who deserted the AOA when you had to put your hand in your pocket? The A-scalers broke the Union, not the Swires. The rest is now history.
Cathay Pacific, founded in 1946 didn’t employ Hong Kong pilots until 1989, and only then because it was becoming politically untenable. Women weren’t employed until some time in the mid to late nineties, and most of the trailblazers subsequently resigned because of the treatment they received, FROM THE A-SCALERS. To this day, Cathay doesn’t employ a single pilot from North of the border, and I only use the word ‘border’ because it happens to be closed at the moment. 'One country, two systems’ is now dead! Hong Kong is now China and, as always, Cathay is wayyyy behind the times, not in small part because the A-scalers tried so desperately to maintain Flt-ops as a closed shop. Cathay was never a professional outfit; it was nothing more than an old boys flying club. And, it hasn’t maintained the highest failure rate this industry has ever seen because it has high standards. Cathay has the highest failure rate because it has NO standards! The trouble with ’standards’, (look it up in the dictionary), is that if applied consistently and fairly, ’standards’ can always be met through hard work, dedication, and professionalism, at which point the gatekeepers lose control. In Cathay ’the cream doesn’t rise, sh!t floats’.
The Titanic has already sunk and it had an A-scaler at the wheel when it went down, supported by his minions in C&T. If it ever reemerges it will only be because the Chinese see fit to dredge the carcass up from the deep, melt it down, and transform it in to something totally unrecognisable. But why bother?
My heart truly goes out to all those dedicated professionals who now find themselves caught between a rock and a hard place. Hang in there. There’s life after Cathay.
What a tragic story?!