@ChinaBeached and all you Cathay cynics,
The maximum time you can spend as an SO is 4 years, of which your pay increases by 50k annually, starting at 422k.
The minimum time you can spend as an SO is 18 months.
The maximum time it can take to become a captain at Cathay is 12 years.
2 years later, you become a senior captain.
Your pay increases from 1.2m when you start as captain to 1.8m 15 years later.
You also get:
15.5% Superannuation contribution.
Medical insurance.
Education allowances for children studying in HK.
A share in company profits etc.
422k is a lot of money, especially for a person who will be in their early 20's, and it only increases from there.
This information comes from the chief pilot, who had a seat on the board.
In all honesty, you can be cynical of the program all you want. But in the end, those that do the program are going to benefit so much from it as it is FREE training (as opposed to spending 100k on training individually), you get to live in an awesome city and fly for one of the worlds most respected airlines.
I know which side I will be taking.