Letter to Immigration Department
hello everyone, i have been a long time reader of this forum but this is my first post. I agree with those of you who believe the Cadet Program should only be limited to locals and that they should start hiring SOs directly again. So, i have typed a letter planning to send it to the immigration department. Let me know if anyone has suggestions or comments for me to make this letter more convincing. Thanks!
Dear Sir/Madam,
Recently, a group of Cadet Pilots from Cathay Pacific has graduated and returned to Hong Kong. Some of those that graduated are non-Hong Kong residents who are now waiting for the Immigration Department to issue them work visas. As a Hong Kong permanent resident and past applicant to the program, I strongly believe that such Visas should not be issued.
Due to the lack of training opportunities in Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific originally introduced the Cadet program so that locals with no flying experience can have a chance into aviation. However, Cathay Pacific is now accepting applicants from all parts of the world regardless if they have HKIDs or not. Since Cadet Pilots are accepted on local terms, Cathay Pacific can substantially save on housing reimbursements if they are able to employ their whole pilot body under this program.
I applied to the program in 2009 but unfortunately was rejected after two stages of interviews and tests. During the two stages, I met many other applicants and was surprised to see only 1 out of 3 applicants were holders of a HKID. All of the non-HKID holders that I met had some sort of aviation license already (ranging from a Private Pilot License to Commercial Pilot License). At that point, it was very clear to me that my competition was immense. While speaking to them, I found out that most of them plan on working with Cathay Pacific only for a few years after they receive the free training. If this is the case, a Hong Kong based company will be training people of other countries for free rather than training their own people. This is truly unfair to all of the residents of Hong Kong.
As a profit seeking company, Cathay Pacific will continue to accept experienced international applicants over inexperienced local applicants as long as they are allowed to do so—such applicants are just easier to train. This significantly reduces the chance of any Hong Kong resident to be accepted to the program.
Other than protecting the people of Hong Kong, the denial of work visas to international Cadet Pilots also protects the applicants themselves. Much of the international applicants come from countries that are a complete opposite of Hong Kong. They are used to living in houses that are at least 1,000 square foot and getting around in personal automobiles. However, with the pay scale that they are going to get and no housing allowance, the lifestyle that they are used to in their home country is impossible. Those who never planned on leaving Cathay after the free training will be forced to leave eventually. This can be prevented if work visas are not issued to them.
To protect the employment opportunities for the people of Hong Kong, the hiring of non-local Cadet Pilots should stop immediately. The only way this can be stopped is if the Immigration Department denies request of work visas to Cadet Entry Pilots. Since Cadets are not required to have any flying experience, there should be an abundant amount of applicants in Hong Kong that can be successful pilots if they are provided Cathay’s training. Work visas should only be issued to those who are already experienced enough to take the job of an airline pilot (Direct Entry Pilots) and should not be issued to those who need further training (Cadet Entry Pilots).