@sloppy joe:
There are several industries that require a lot of technical skills, and many that are much more complicated than piloting an aircraft that the salary (especially for entry level position) are significantly lower than what was offered a few years ago such as IT, Engineering. Keep in mind, there are still tons of people, a lot of recent college graduates out there who are unemployed. Pilots are no different, there are tons of licensed CPL and APL in the US (approx 125K CPL and 144K ATP (not including CPL) as provided by FAA) , the supply is great especially since there are still furloughs at major airlines and many qualified commuter pilots waiting for their shot at the majors. Additionally, flying is not what it was decades ago where a piloting requires significant experience and skill. With the current automation, piloting has becoming much easier and safer, hence why there are so many ab initio programs such as one at CX. Besides, for SO, isn’t their primary duties to monitor the system and radios, literally babysit the aircraft? I do not think you need much skill for that and you can almost pick any somewhat intelligent college grad to learn what the knobs and buttons on the MCP, FMC etc does. If you think CX is the only airline to look for no experience or inexperienced pilots, I can tell you several major airlines in Asia, Europe that would gladly take someone with little or no experience and pay “below market” rates, some you even have the honor of paying them! By the way, where did you see these jobs that pay $18K a month? This wouldn’t be airlines in China that require captains right? Please let me know where if not as I know several people who are A320 FO’s looking for jobs right now.
Just because a company which is flush with cash, does not mean they have to start being generous. Being fiscally responsible is most important with running any business as it is all about the bottomline. Business 101, increase revenue and cut expense (highest expenses generally come from salary, wages, “loaded costs” which is benefits etc). Wages should be adjusted via market rates like what most companies/industries are doing right now. If you set a low salary, qualified people are willing to take it, by all means, you get as many as you can, simple law of supply and demand. If the new wannabe’s don’t like the package offered to them, they can say “screw you” and walk the other way. Tell me, what is wrong with CX or any other company trying to save (cut) costs? By the way, there was a post not long ago on this thread, a guy applied to SQ and apparently the salary is lower than what CX is offering. You can say all you want, but the cost of living in Singapore is higher than in Hong Kong. I do not know if you see on the news in Hong Kong about this “Occupy Wall Street” movement. It is really about a bunch of people (actually a lot of them ex-hippies and losers) who are discontent about big corporations. If you follow the news here in US, you will see a lot of corporations are making money, most with record amounts of cash but no one is hiring. At least Cathay can say they are hiring. Besides, FYI, the CX loss for 2009 was approx $1.1 billion, albeit they did make back what was lost in 2010 and likely 2011 (results not avail yet), the industry is forecasting a pretty turbulent 2012 for the airlines. Let me ask you, would this be a good time to start paying more money or being fiscally irresponsible knowing 2012 is likely to be another bad year and further stagnation coming?
One of the things I keep hearing on here is how difficult it is to get by in Hong Kong on the current iCadet package. I think it can generally be agreed here that an SO in the first few years would make about HK$500,000/yr before any bonuses and taxes. However has anyone actually considered the fact that the GDP per capital in HK is approximately HK $250K/yr? Another words, an iCadet in Hong Kong is being paid twice the average person in HK. Before you start to compare to any other airlines etc, here in US, an entry level job for a pilot (after investing close to $100K in training) is a flight instructor making at best $20K or about half of the average a person makes in the US. Which airline can you name where someone with no time or “low time” makes more than the GDP per capita of the country the airline is based in?
Regarding the contract, CX has been keeping up with their end correct? If not, I would suggest that they be sued in court. I have done enough business in HK to know they have one of the best legal system in Asia (probably the world) as they follow the British common law system. Be glad you are not in half the countries in Asia where a contract has no meaning.
I like your last paragraph by the way, makes good sense.
Have a good weekend.