Whilst I do applaud anothernewbie for their valuable insight that I am sure many will find constructive and useful, it does paint a picture that is similar to many airlines all over the globe. Split duties, lack of handling and fatigue are part and parcel with the majority of airline flying today.
Joining as a cruise pilot with no previous commercial experience is potentially precarious. Regardless of what we fly and what stage we are at in our career, we undergo a significant period of learning and refining our flying skills when we first fly. That is why turboprop experience has traditionally been looked upon as being a solid base since lots of hand flying goes hand in hand with such an operation. Sitting in the cruise with no hand flying is leaving such a person trying to build a solid career on a extremely weak foundation. As a Line Training Captain myself (not with CX!) I would ask you to take a long hard look at the long term and ask if joining direct as a cruise pilot will turn out to be the positive step that so many may think it may be. Such a view is not looking at CX as a company since I would say the same regardless of the
airline!
On the topic of second businesses, I am keen to develop a second income stream, yet for many this will be more of a insurance policy than anything else. Having the financial freedom to perhaps work part time or indeed know that you have something to fall back on if you loose your medical, is priceless for some. It is rather foolish to chastise anyone for wanting to develop a business outside of flying since our motives for doing so could be very different!
PS... Thinking you need to watch the markets 24/7 in order to make money from them is a big myth!!!
