I am extremely disappointed the way this news is being received on this forum.
Back in 2008 all KA non flying staff were integrated into CX. We are talking a lot of people. All were given CX staff priority based on their DOJ with KA. There was not one whisper of protest from any pilots at CX.
The only KA people excluded from this were the flying staff.
Now after all these years of getting bumped by 19 year old office staff, CX has decided to address this anomaly and include us as part of the company. Amazingly the one group that is most vocal in raising opposition to this is our fellow pilots at CX.
There are less than 500 pilots at KA. at least half of them were hired after CX bought KA and as such have always been paid and worked for the CX group.
KA has been part of the CX " one team one dream" for 7 years now but only when it suits it seems.
As far as KA's destinations go the vast majority of jump seat requests I get are from CX employees ( admittedly there aren't many left at KA now). It may surprise you guys but there are a large amount of Chinese who work for CX who actually do want to travel to China. I'm sure they will appreciate the boost in their boarding priority. As well as the CX commuters from Phuket who are always after a
JS. Plus the many CX cabin crew from Korea , Japan, Taiwan, Philippines India etc. KA is a regional airline and believe it or not most CX employees are from " the region" not everyone want to go to LA, London or Sydney.
As far as what's been offered. The barriers between the two airlines will be removed. Priority 25 on either carrier based on DOJ. FOCs on either carrier. ID 90 on freight ( we had this before but lost it when all our freighters went to CX).
Some of the down side is we lose the cost of an ID 50 from our travel fund. The big one though is KA recognizes common law spouses where as CX don't. This deal not only does not recognize CLS for staff travel But also takes away the medical benefit for the CLS they currently enjoy. Many of the guys with CLS have said they won't be signing over to the scheme as it's too big a financial hit for them. Many other guys are unwilling to give up the cash from their travel fund and would rather stay where they are and buy a full fare with the cash they saved.
Not sure what the take up rate will be. If you're married on a local contract then it's a no cost item and the take up will be 100% from that group. If you're an expat or have a CLS ( or both) then there is a financial hit. Each individual will have to weigh it up if it's worth it. Some will some won't.