SCMP Cadet Article
What are they thinking????
It's easier to be a Cathay cadet but there's less money in flying
Elaine Yau
Updated on Aug 18, 2010 Nelson Chang Way-man and Oscar Francis were members of two very different professions but they had one thing in common: a love of flying.It led the doctor and investment banker to quit their highly paid jobs and join Cathay Pacific Airways' cadet pilot scheme last year with an initial pay potential of about a third of their previous earnings.
Both said their love of flying overcame any financial concerns and the chance to make a living from it was a dream comes true.
Yet while they may be about to realise their dream, others who have been through the same scheme are far less happy. The reason: the terms and conditions for pilots have been changed. A local captain said that after long-standing friction about unequal terms for locals and expatriates, Cathay, fearing action under Hong Kong's racial discrimination law, has stopped offering a housing allowance - not available to local staff - to all new recruits.
The Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association, whose membership includes many of Cathay's locally hired and expatriate pilots, said the change was implemented in response to pilots' complaints about the disparity in pay between expatriate and local pilots. But instead of equalising benefits upwards, the bar has been lowered.
A union spokesman, a local captain who has worked for the airline for 14 years and requested anonymity, said the change was initiated after the Race Discrimination Ordinance came into effect last year.
"Now everybody, irrespective of your nationality or how many flying hours you have clocked up before you join Cathay, is employed on local terms. Instead of raising the salary of locals to achieve pay parity, they now shrink the pay packages of expatriates," he said.
It is an issue that will affect both Francis, a Briton, and Chang - both are classed as locals because they have Hong Kong ID cards. They will have to get by on the salary alone. But expatriate cadets are now also out of luck on housing allowances.
Francis and Chang were among the first batch of 61 cadet pilots recruited by Cathay after it loosened the entry requirement for its in-house training programme last year in a bid to attract more high-quality applicants to cope with expansion.
Where once the programme was open only to Hong Kong ID card holders, now anyone can join regardless of nationality provided they agree to settle in Hong Kong and view it as their permanent base.
Francis, 36, worked for Morgan Stanley as a legal and compliance officer. In 1999, he applied to British Airways but was rejected. "Before that, I wanted to join the Royal Air Force, but I was hit by a car and hurt my hip in 1996, which made me medically unfit to join the force," he said.
Francis, who was earning about HK$100,000 a month when he left the bank in 2009, will bring his wife and two children to settle in Hong Kong. He said taking up the Cathay job had been a difficult decision to make.
"I got no pay during the 14 months' training," he said. "I discussed with my wife how to do it. My wife did a course on English teaching while I got my training. She will teach English after we move to Hong Kong. I owe her everything. I know she has had a very difficult year."
Chang, a 31-year-old University of Hong Kong medical school graduate, also married with two children, was earning about HK$70,000 a month when he decided to change jobs.
"My wife is also a doctor and we have savings so we are able to do it," he said.
While 61 cadet pilots were recruited last year, only 36 and 19 joined the training programme in 2008 and 2007 respectively. But though the numbers may have grown through restrictions being eased, the cut in benefits is likely to continue to rankle.
Expatriates comprise about 50 per cent of the airline's more than 2,000 pilots.
Locally hired pilots, trained for 14 months in Adelaide at a cost funded by Cathay of HK$1.2 million each, number around 300. Eventually, they receive a HK$24,000 monthly housing allowance, but only when they reach the rank of captain. From second officer, becoming a captain usually takes at least 10 years.
Maria Yu Chi-sum, the airline's corporate communications manager, said, "The airline is expanding quickly."
Now was a "superb" time to join the airline, she said. "During Sars in 2003, we had to park many planes in the desert. Last year, because of the economic downturn, all our staff had to take no-pay leave of two to four weeks. But as the economy has rebounded and our airline is expanding, you can get promoted much faster now than before."
Not all the pilots agreed. The local pilot who spoke for the union said the change to the benefits structure could lead to a high turnover rate when the economy was good.
"At international airlines like Qantas and British Airways, just one salary package is applied to everybody. Everyone wanted to stay put during the economic downturn. But many local pilots like me, after having endured the unfair salary treatment for so many years, are considering switching to another airline when the economy picks up," he said.