404 Titan
The first line did send a smile to my face. To clear things up, no I'm not a part of Cathay. As I stated I am not an applicant and I'm definitely not one of the BIG BOYS that put the iCadet scheme into play. Lets face it; if I was, I wouldn't be on pprune writing. I would spending my bonus check money
I don't disagree with you. What we are saying is similar. The only difference I had was what the iCadet program was. iCadet was started before the implementation of TT and AE courses. The majority of people applying to this program are pilots with little to no experience (less than 200 hrs flying time). It has always been this way, even since 1988 when it was just locals. To be fair, there were local cadets (and by local it just means HKID) who did have in excess of 300 hrs who still took this road. AE and TT courses were not available at the time. What I was saying earlier is the BASIC iCadet program is still serving its main purpose. Even if shorter courses were not available and everyone had to do the 61 week training course, it would still attract the same types of people whether or not they have a HKID; pilots with little to no flying time. And for someone in another country with no experience, this seems good (on the surface). I see where you are coming from about the TT program. And as I mentioned, I would feel insulted, if I went for DESO/DEFO, and then got offered this course on local terms. I asked in a post awhile ago.
Who are you upset with? The cadets who still have little to no experience and are applying to Cathay, the same way the cadets have been since 1988? Or the DESO/DEFO poolies that have made the decision to accept the Transition Training Course terms and give-up their expat benefits.
I'm figuring you are in CX. Now I will admit to you, most of the info I have on Cathay is just from doing research and speaking with a few friends who have gone through the cadet program. And no doubt there are cadets who are finding it difficult in Hong Kong. But something tells me they did not do a lot of research before applying. Even without a family base in HK, Cadets are still making it. For every cadet you talk to that says he/she is struggling to save for taxes, I'm sure there is one who is doing just fine. Furthermore, if the local HK population can make it with an average income of $15-20K HKD, I'm sure a cadet with $45K will be fine. As said before by many, the research must be done. It's not impossible, but some will have to scale back from the lifestyle that they are accustomed to. There are no secrets. Everyone understands, or at least I hope they understand, that they are joining under local terms. Even if they are expat by birth, Cathay will recognize them as a local. The homework needs to be done before they apply.
CB
LOL I have read some of the posts and I agree fight fire with fire. For some, if you have anything better than a flame thrower, USE IT.
However, as I've stated before, I don't the rest of them are sell-outs. As you have written, if people disagree with you that's fine. And they are free to do that. In your post you call those people "yellow-bellied, spineless, ignorant, naive, sell-outs" just because they choose to continue their interview process. As I said earlier, the current cadets with little to no experience are no more sell-outs than the ones employed by Cathay when you were applying. And during that time when Cathay had its great profit, Cadet pilots were there.
We both know Cathay is a business and they will do whatever they can to save a quick buck. There isn't one airline out there that wont do that (if there is please let me know ASAP so I can get that resume ready lol) At this point, Cathay is trying to recruit everyone through the cadet scheme. EVERY cadet will have to learn to become local. Some will find it difficult, while others will manage very well (that all depends on the person). I still think that Cathay will ride this as long as they can until they are forced to open up the DESO/DEFO positions with expat benefits. But they will try to save as much as they can for as long as they can.
So again I ask anyone, who are these words meant for? Who are you upset at? Is it the cadet pilots with no experience that have been applying since 1988? (obviously they found some success with this, or they would have stopped this years ago). Or the DEFO/DESO poolies that have decided to take a Transition Course on local terms?
On a side note - I am curious to know what the cadets from 20 years ago think about the current program today.