Pilotchute,
Let me add some more points of view. Firstly, we are definately getting too bogged down with the figures stated - by myself and others. One may wish to live as a pauper and save a decent amount, one may wish to live a half-decent lifestyle and have nothing at the end of the month. one may enjoy the pleasures of a cold lager, one may not. One may be happy living in a shoe-box, one may not ad nauseum. So lets look at the big picture.
Regardless of how you live, there is no sustainable future in HK for you. This is the point the likes of Titan, Dan Buster, and crwjerk are trying to get across. Even if you are single, you will struggle to save up 30percent deposit on ANY property. And if by some miracle you do, good luck finding a wife to live with you in that shoebox and just forget about kids.
The lack of housing has ensured the above paragraph is not BS I'm afraid. The normal path of life is to earn money, buy assests and use them to provide for you in your old age. The lucky ones amongst us who have invested wisely will have a retirement with no detriment in quality of life. The majority of us with housing (and have not had two or more divorces) have accomplished this. We have bought properties and paid for them purely with the housing allowance and made a reasonable profit on selling them.
Cadets can only dream of this.
And this is the point I was making before. For those with zero hours or less than 1500 hours, this is an amazing opportunity. It's also an easy road. Try talking to the Canucks dicking around in -35'C temps earning sweet FA or the romantic stories of CPL holders washing Cessna152s at an airfield just to get an instructors job or a job towing gliders. Kudos to the ones that have gone down this road an made it - but life is all about taking chances if they come. And the CX Cadet scheme is one of them. We may not be the airline we were once proud of back in the 80s but our planes certainly cure SJS (Shiny jet syndrome). Not many first time jobs give you the chance to argue amonst your classmates about what plane they want to fly - the 777ER or 330 or the forthcoming A350XWB. Wow!!!!!
But it is not sustainable. And CX know this. Hence the loan to make sure you return 6 years of service. Before the unforgivable loan, any cadet could have left CX at any point- the letter stating you must work 6 years for the company might aswell have been toilet paper because it means nothing. This unforgivable loan scheme is as good as a bond.
So do not take my word for it, nor Dan Buster, nor Titan et al. The fact that CX themselves have implemented this loan scheme is their own statement that the package is not good enough! That's the proof my boys - from the horse's mouth!
That was my point earlier. Come here only as a short term plan. Hk isn't bad, the staff travel (contrary to what people say) isn't too bad and after 4 years as an SO (could be less), you start getting RHS time. And a free rating! This is much better than other horror stories you hear about pilots trying to get that elusive first job.
I hope this really summarises the scheme - the Big Picture is simply this: Entering Cathay as a cadet is unsustainable for a career in CX. It is purely short term.