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Old 13th Aug 2010, 00:08
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Captain Dart
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: with the other ex-CX pond scum (a zoologist was once head of Flight Ops)
Posts: 1,862
Received 54 Likes on 24 Posts
You can try the Fragrant Harbour Wannabees forum, which is aimed at prospective joiners.

But for what it's worth, there used to be three reasons Cathay Pacific was the most desirable expat airline career in the world: the A Scale salary, rapid progression to Command, and the Hong Kong housing package. The first two of those attractions have long gone, and the third is under threat. With 'age 65' for retirement, and my personal bet is 70 before the decade is out, it is 'dead men's shoes' for promotion. There are new aircraft coming, but most of them are replacements for the tired old workhorses in the various fleets. And they won't stay shiny for long, as they are always working and the filth in the Southern Chinese air plays havoc with the paint jobs. But they are still 'wide bodies' if that's what floats your boat.

There seems to be no limit to how bad many of the roster patterns can get (e.g. two sectors throught the night to/from India, HKG-Bali and back etc), and I'd like a dollar for every Cathay Pacific sunrise I've seen. New flight time limitations are imminent, and if your assumption is that they will be worse on crews, your assumption would be right. Flogging around Asia, tired, during monsoon season can also be an endurance test.

A reasonably competent and 'engaging' Flight Operations Management changed for the worse in the early 1990's, and your training will be quite a slog, especially if you are paired up with some of the oddballs in the system.

But notwithstanding all that, good luck!
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