Cathay and Cadet "Bonding"

[JayTee777300]

So... CX have gotten around this issue of bonding by not using the word "bonding", but instead giving you a loan for something that was provided free before.

I note that the offer is pretty light on details. As we know with CX, the devil is in the details, and what their lawyers think they can win later when you end up in court. There are a lot of questions one should ask about this "forgivable loan" before signing on. Alas the answers are only available in the small print - which I haven't seen, CX won't provide to you until you have gone through all the effort of recruiting and have a job offer (this is what I have been told anyway).

An example of some of the questions one should ask, that I have thought of off the top of my head, that think are important (I will say here the loan is $30,000AUD because that is the minimum loan that applies only to the CTT guys. Cadet and Advanced cadet are $80,000AUD and $160,000AUD, respectively, exchange rate dependant):

• So it is compulsory that everyone joining CX take a minimum of a $30k AUD loan to pay for their training, even for the most experienced person? YES
• Do you have to repay it if you leave before 6 years? YES
• If they leave within 6 years is the repayment amount pro-rated or you get stung for the whole lot?
• It mentions that I need to finish a probation period to receive the cash portion, but doesn't mention when the training portion is considered borrowed. Am I up for the $30k from day one of training, or when I am checked to line, or at any other intermediate milestone in the training?
• As it is considered a loan, is there any kind of repayment schedule to show how much is payed off each month? Don't know. It is in the small print.
• What if I choose to leave mid way through training?
• What happens if I fail my training?
• What happens if I fail my upgrade later?
• What happens if CX let me go?
• What happens if I lose my license and CX let me go?
• What happens if I have to leave HK/CX for valid personal/family reasons?
• What happens if I or my wife/family hate the place?
• What happens if my child gets sick in HK and we have to leave? (Yes it happens plenty)
• Do I get anything more for my $30k than a worthless P2X rating? No
• If I leave and have to pay back the $30k, and I don't have $30k in my pocket, what is they repayment schedule? Do I have to pay a lump sum, pay in one year, or do I have the rest of my life to pay it back?

There a lot of unknowns there and that’s just the ones I could think up immediately. And CX are not interested in giving you time to read it and address any of these questions. Now as you know with CX, if it is unwritten or you just don't know, then you have to assume the worst case scenario. For example: is the repayment amount pro-rated with time? Common sense would say yes. But if I don't see it written I would assume worse case of NO - if you quit at 5 years and 6 months CX will come after the whole $30k.

So they have made a complex deal with lots of intricacies and small print (something you should really have a lawyer look at - because effectively signing a contract with a $30,000AUD downside to it for you), then won't show it to you until after you have spent a lot of your own time, money and effort to get the job. Then when they do they say "here it is - you need to sign and reply in a week".

They are relying on the fact that you will hopefully be young and dumb or desperate enough to sign without thinking to hard and then they have you. I have a new term for it - they used to call it "Golden Handcuffs" because they held you here by buying you a house. Now it's just the plain old "Iron Handcuffs" because they aren't actually giving you anything, but if you leave you have to pay them!

Now I understand CX wanting some kind of "Return Of Service" (ROSO) for training a cadet who turns up at the age of 18yo with zero hours. Many other airlines and militaries do that. But now they are trying to do that with experienced guys who have ATPLS and 1500+ hrs, telling them that 10 dutchess hrs, some sim, and a worthless P2X are worth $30,000AUD. Many of these guys have already served another ROSO elsewhere, or paid for their own training out of their own pocket and served their time flying tractor parts around the outback, now to be bonded again with another $30,000 debit hanging over their head.

It is bollox.