Does anyone know if the passage to JFO is made according to a seniority list only based on the date at which you join the company or is the past experience taken into account for this promotion?
Date of Joining only. SOs currently doing their JFO upgrades had on average 4000hours in 2007-2008 when they joined, and waited 4+ years just like everyone else.
The other questions are:
Are all the SO based in HK or are there some based elsewhere?
All SOs are based in Hong Kong, and always will be. With C-scale, there is no expected base openings for such pilots - ever.
What are the current time needed to be promoted JFO?
3-5 years. 3 years and 11 months as of April 2012.
What is the bond for a pilot going through transition course?
1.1 million HKD / 105,000 Euro.
Do you get a full type rating is you are second officer?
You do not get a type rating at all. You get a relief-rating, which is not a type rating. The rating in not recognized by any other ICAO nation, and even in Hong Kong only 1/4 of the total flight time can be logged. There are no licensing requirements for takeoff, landing, or engine-failure handling. The only requirement is to, at cruise, a) get the aircraft out of a stall, b)initiate a drift-down in case of engine-failure, and c) initiate an emergency descent in case of decompression. A second officer is not allowed to be in a control seat below 20,000', and is not allowed to touch the aircraft contorls/autpopilot unless seated in the right seat with a qualified captain in the left seat. Even then, the Captain is to immediately assume control if
anything out of the ordinary happens.
If you are quitting before the end of the bond, how much do you need to reimburse?
Linear reduction from 1.1million to 0 over 6 years.
You must be mad to even consider this with your experience.