Cx Deso

[Kane Toed]

Originally Posted by OPEN DES

I am particularly interested in:

I'll break them down and then should remember them all!

-upgrade times to JFO

Upgrade times are difficult to predict as the company is changing. Around 6 years ago people were getting JFO courses after 18 months to 2 years, but that then extended out to 3½ years and longer. This seems to be reducing however, and the latest SO’s are being called for their interview before the 3 year point. CX is upgrading 130+ FO’s to CN in 2007, but they are only upgrading 90(ish) SO’s to FO. The remaining shortfall in seats will be filled by DEFOs on the pax fleet. As CX is expecting to increase its capacity by 43 aircraft, this could mean many DEFOs will be employed. Naturally, you will not be upgraded to FO until there is a need for you to have the qualification, so the number of DEFOs employed will have a direct bearing on upgrade times.

-general working environment

I’m assuming that you are talking about when you are flying? I’m on the ‘bus so can only answer for them, and you must bear in mind that I haven’t been in for that long - I’m still a SO. In my experience the work environment is really good. Irrespective of many posts that you read on prune, my training was of a high standard and was conducted by very knowledgeable and personable people. You will also have Mod(ule) Simulators every 2 months. Again, these have always been valuable and conducted in a very pragmatic manner.

Notwithstanding the work environment being good, the actual job is ‘same old same old’ after the first year or so, as I'm sure you can imagine. Saying that, you have to be aware of the limitations imposed on your flying when you are a SO, and realise that it’s a stage that you have to go through; with any luck it’ll not be for too long.

-lifestyle

Good. I have been on overtime every month for the last few months (including Jan) but have still managed to dive in 6 different countries and come to the conclusion on more than one occasion that I’m hopeless on a snowboard! Seriously, there is plenty of time off between flights to do a lot of your own thing.

–rosters and I’ll include -how does the SO bidding/scheduling process look like?

Normally you’ll have 3 – 4 long haul trips per month, which after your first year will almost certainly include a 330 trip to Oz. Every second month there will be a Simulator and you’ll do reserve every few months. I have always been called out when on reserve, but it’s never been at the last minute. You can bid for layovers or for flights, and it’s awarded on seniority. If you are on the ‘bus, you can expect to see AKL a LOT in your first couple of years. Rosters come out on the 15th of the preceding month. Under the current Rostering Practice agreement (watch this space), you can bid for a ‘compact’ or ‘super compact’ roster. I can’t remember the actual numbers, but it basically means that you agree to having all your flights scheduled with minimum rest between them. This means that you are left with a block of a couple of weeks free each month.

-pay and benefits year1

A bit over HK$32,000.00 per month I think for year one. Added to your salary, you get housing allowance of either HK$14,000 in cash each month or rental / mortgage assistance of around HK$23,000 per month. After 2 years in the company this increases to $45,000 (or $18,000 in cash I think – but don’t quote me on that one).

CX also pays 15% of your salary into the Provident Fund. Naturally you get medical cover for you, and I think spouse if you are married. There is also help with school fees I understand, but I’m not married so can’t help with that side.

-availability of outport basings

You can bid for or organize a temporary basing for up to 4 months of each year in either JNB, YVR or LHR. Once you are a FO you can apply for a permanent base, but these will be allocated in seniority order. If you take a permanent base you lose your HK housing allowance and you will of course be liable for tax in the country that you are living.

-what's the time to move from so pax to fo cargo with outport base?

That’s not a normal progression. Generally you will go from SO pax to FO pax (although it might well be on a different fleet). Notwithstanding this, if you are qualified for FO before you join and choose to come in as a SO, then you can apply anytime for a change to the freighter. If this suits CX's needs, you will naturally be taken off the pax pay scale and put on the appropriate freighter FO salary. Generally, if you take tax into account, second year + SOs are earning more than first year FOs on the freighter. That’s certainly true of 3rd year SOs.

Actually, you can also apply for Command as a SO too, if you meet the minimum requirements. We do have a number of DESOs who have wide body time, some from the left hand seat.

-do they provide a real type rating or is just a relief pilot qualification?

It’s certainly not real. With the HK CAD P2X rating we can’t be at the controls below TOC / TOD (unless I accidentally get into a Duchess)!

Does that cover everything? Good luck anyway!

KT