I am curious about one aspect of this thread - as an S/O pilot on a 744 or 340, working for Cathay, even if you don't have a type rating written down in whatever legalese is appropriate to Hong Kong, surely if you DID go to another airline they would recognise the fact that you had been flying that type as an effective crewmember for the last XX years?
I mean, even if you can't (for whatever strange reason) log hours in an official book, if you keep your own computerised records of flight details and hours, and provide evidence that Cathay did or do employ you as a pilot, and explain the reasons for that, any airline interview board would immediately see that you could be taken on with little to no retraining required. And any sim ride would quickly show that not only could you handle the jet in their test scenario, but you actually knew FOR REAL how to fly the thing!!
Call me naive ( I'm sure someone will
but I think it would be foolish for another airline to discount your years of flying with Cathay on the basis that you weren't allowed under HK rules to log anything officially!!
I hope to join a major soon and am wondering if this scenario is common to other airlines than the ones mentioned above.
Thanks in advance for your replies,
Grypen