Cathay Pacific Cadet Pilot Programme

[barney31]

404titan,
Many thanks for your clear insight and time to give a well build statement of what should be offered to the Icadets.
If I understand it correctly, the essential line between a “bad”-package and a “decent”-offer is the housing allowance? Are most the other secondary conditions like the provident funds and education allowances (albeit only local schools) reasonably in “line”? Or do those conditions need to be reviewed as well?

I would agree on the most part, but I reckon that for CX, housing allowance is something that will be cut considerable as the overall staff expenditures would be rise to a amount that is not “sellable” to stakeholders and internal parties.

Let’s say the package is financially upgraded with the housing allowance to the standards of the DESO. If I use my “beercoaster”-accounting, it would mean that 250 entries per year would have an housing allowance collectively of 8.237.500,00 HKD, and that the second year of keeping this on the same package with 250 flight deck entries would mean the amount would be 24.712.500,00 HKD in about 2 years. There is quite some impact on the balance sheets. And this has to be backed up by the statement that "safety and quality" comes first, but unfortunately, it seems on "safety and quality" there is an boundary to use that argument according the ones who decide where to take this company....

Now, not looking at the rental markets which most likely will rise to even an higher level, and leaving aside the further costs for the company as the allowance will rise with more seniority and years of service, looking already at the figure above for the years, the company has to get it back somewhere on the WHOLE corporate line and “sell” it to the internal parties which in itself is already an tricky matter to do.

I can imagine this will cause a knock-on effect to other line departments such as Engineering, In-flight Services, Revenue Management, and others. The debate “who” or” what “is more important becomes very much alive and I do not think it will go very well past the “common-white-collar-workforce”(with the utmost respect to them!). Of course, I am very much speculating and by all means it is just one of the many outcomes. I am just wondering how CX is going to stay profitable when the break-even point will be harder to reach. But I am swaying way off topic here. Sorry for that.

All I want to state is that although I understand and agree with what 404titan is saying, I reckon it is not something that from an corporate (and political) point of view is NOT going to happen unless indeed, (like Dan Buster mentioned) Icadets are massively rejecting the offer and all terms for the B-Scale are reinstated. Nevertheless, I think in any way this means it will have a huge profit/loss-effect and so it even is harder to maintain a positive margin as a commercial airliner and eventually the company will have an greater RISK to lose its edge because the commercial cut-throat environment the company is moving in. It is somewhat discouraging to see.


Regarding the mystery why CX is not willing to pay for outside schools, I reckon that the company wants to use the schools in HK (rather than opposed to go overseas) has not necessarily to do with whether it is an additional cost or not, if you sent you kids to international school, it means either some part of your family will have to live with them. I think more than not a mother (or father) has some trouble to leave their child behind when they move to HKG. If one could choose to stay on a base, it would be different story, but as that is on hold and probably will not open anytime soon, the safest bet for now is let the kids join an local HK school and at least they have an “home” to go to instead in staying in an boarding school (what is also driving of an overseas school up for the company)with you have to rely as an parent on the capable hands of teachers and dorm-mothers. Not to discredit the people running an overseas international school, but you cannot help “immediately” when things go wrong because you might be on the other side of the world. But that is just my brain trying to connect the dots too.

Once again, 404titan, ChinaBeached, VoiceofReason, Dan Buster, and all others positive or negative, thank you for the statements made, hopefully it will help some to see what is at hand here and make their decision wisely and clearly…


Barney Out.