I would take what HR are saying with a huge grain of salt. They are just clerks being fed 'a line'.
In fact, at the moment CX is crying 'poor' and parking freighters. The future of the 747-400 fleet is looking doubtful. The shiny 777's arriving (and they don't stay shiny for long in the filthy South China air), may only be replacements.
Not many captains are retiring, the annual figure is barely in double figures, retirement age is now 65, and with anti-discrimination legislation, there may be no actual retirement age in the future.
From personal experience as a current CX captain, Hong Kong International Airport is becoming choked with traffic, severely limiting expansion of the hub. With any sort of bad weather about, even miles from the field, ATC is becoming chaotic and sometimes dangerous, with large numbers of aircraft in limited airspace and choked ATC frequencies.
Even when the third runway is built, the idiotic Mainland Chinese airspace restrictions will cap further expansion.
Overseas basings are under a cloud, and even if they were available to you there are double taxation issues and new joiners would be in the queue behind some 2,700 pilots in the pecking order. You will be condemned to live for most or all of your career in a very expensive city, always preparing for or recovering from jet lag and 'red eye' flights, in sub standard accommodation on a sub standard package.
Should your application be successful and you pass the training, you will be perceived by current crew as having accepted inferior conditions of service, and any complaints about lifestyle, remuneration, rosters or lack of promotion will be met with little sympathy.
Last edited by Captain Dart; 22nd May 2012 at 02:59.