Originally Posted by
Boulanger
1) That's hard to say. In the past (prior COVID) SOs would upgrade if they hold the highest seniority spot amongst all other SOs in a unified pool. Nowadays, SOs upgrade depending on fleet, past experience, and other factors. The presence of direct entry first officers have always delayed progression, which is a other factor. There is no "hour requirement" as you say.
2) P2X = Cruise relief co-pilot. If you hold a P2X rating, which is what you will have as an SO, you can only operate the aircraft above 20,000 feet under the supervision of the pilot in command or a delegate. The reason P2X is a problem is that very few carriers outside of CX recognize these hours. Which means that if you are stuck as an SO or find the job not to your liking, it will be very hard if not impossible for you to leave.
Thanks Boulanger. This is very important which I think everyone should know about this, especially to the ones that are new to the industry. Further to your point, the training department did say that current SOs have been given an opportunity to transfer to HK Express and operate as JFO, however, this would be a one way journey, whoever gets transferred out can't go back, at least not for now.
One more thing, policy can change in a slap of a finger, just like CX Dragon, no one knew it was coming except for the management., any information regarding to pay, flight hours, fleet allocation, wait time to promotion etc, might not be valid this time next year. So much could happen in between and nothing is guaranteed. Afterall CX is a business, not an institution nor a charity, Something that needs to be taken into an account as well.
Cheers.