These are the figures I’ve come up with, happy to be corrected, as I left Cathay nearly 4 years ago.
The
absolute max a Captain 4 on the Airbus can make is around
HKD 3.0M gross / HKD 2.5M net per year. That includes flying 900 hours, 6 weeks profit share, 13th month, housing, and schooling. Very few hit this.
After paying for your own housing and schooling, net drops to about
HKD 1.9M/year or
HKD 158K/month. Most won’t reach this scale anyway.
A lower captain scale brings in about
HKD 1.9M gross / 1.6M net, or
HKD 133K/month. Deduct housing and school, and you're down to
HKD 92K/month.
Now, if you go off
guaranteed base pay only, no profit share, it’s a very different picture:
- Captain Year 4: HKD 2.1M gross / 1.76M net → HKD 146K/month
After housing/school: ~HKD 101K/month
- Lower scale Captain: HKD 1.72M gross / 1.45M net → HKD 121K/month
After housing/school: ~HKD 79K/month
People will say “nobody makes just base pay”, maybe not, but that’s the only part Cathay
guarantees. Banking on more is risky if you're planning a move to HK as the goal posts constantly move over there.