Some balance i guess.
The new pay scale is a significant reduction on the B scale. The scale seems to be pitched at young singles who don't plan to marry or procreate any time soon.
In doing this, KA have created a bunch of new hires who are treating it as a chance to get a good rating and move on. KA Management aren't naive to this, they know that as soon as Europe recovers, these new hire guys and girls will go. They are hoping that their cadets are semi experienced before this happens. Think about it, why would you hire a cadet on the same pay scale as an experienced new hire, but the cadet costs you a million to train, plus possibly a new under carriage or two, or an experienced FO for exactly the same salary, less the training costs and the damage? The only way you could explain why you would hire a cadet over an experienced guy to the accountants is the argument that the cadets will never leave. The cadets are also used to life in HK, HK life is not for everyone... Especially when you are not adequately compensated to be here.
We have had plenty of applicants say no to the offer to come to HK, but there is nothing new in that, it also happened to B scale applicants, but the rate of offer rejections appears to be up.
What is becoming pretty clear, is that someone made a very short sighted decision that filled our second half of the seniority list with a significant lack of experience, diluted further with a disproportionate amount of cadets with zero experience. It may not have been a conscious decision, as even in hard times, it is hard to hire experienced crew when you drop the terms as low as they have. Combine that with the 'unwritten' directive to 'nationalise' and you have the perfect storm to create a seniority list that you cannot expand quickly.
A pity, because CX have asked us to expand quickly, and we just physically cannot do it. CX must be annoyed to say the least. The fact is we need EXPERIENCED CREW.
We operate in one of the most frustrating ATC environments on earth, ATC is exceptionally poor and there is no signs what so ever of improvement. Quite the opposite. We are also seeing significant deterioration in ATC in HK as well. It is one of our worst ports for airborne delays, and the trend is towards more holding, not less. China gives us massive delays, but they are typically when you are on the ground. As a professional pilot, trying to keep the show on the road, you should be compensated for this.
Add to that, the significant health risk of firstly living in HK, and then on your overnights, spending a night in air conditions that are immeasurably worse than HK. Keep in mind it is not in the companies or the governments interest to ever disclose the actual magnitude of the filth we breathe and consume through the pearl river delta produce we are fed on board. You have to ask if you are adequately compensated for that, the fact is we don't have the facts to make an informed decision on that. Lets just take comfort in the knowledge that if the data was good on air and food quality, we would be inundated with it. Multiply this factor if you are bringing family with you.
Schooling is a factor, absolutely. Your kids cant just slot into the local schooling system, unless they are fluent in Cantonese. I doubt that they are. Debentures arent covered by KA, and they probably never will be. I know I didnt turn up in HK with 5 to $50,000 USD to spend on school debentures (read bribes). I cant imagine anyone else did either. A debenture is only useful if there are places in the school. I genuinely dont know of a school in HK that has 'space available'. Many execs have left HK because there are no schooling places, regardless of how deep their pockets are. These people were prepared to pay $1mil debentures, but there were no slots available. Pilots wont have the luxury.
Housing. The 'special allowance' (read housing allowance) will in my humble opinion, not get you anything you would be excited about living in. Hong Kong housing is insane, out of control, and no end in sight on that, the rate is less than half of what a family would need to be close to being comfortable.
Medical. There is a c scale medical scheme. The system is generally considered to be inadequate for anything other than sniffles and stubbed toes. To upgrade it to something that would adequately cover a small young family will cost you 5-10,000 USD. (A months pay).
Staff Travel. There are improvements in the wind, but no guarantees that any of it will ever happen. The deal as it stands now, you will have priority on KA flights, check their website to see what exotic destinations you have to choose from.
For a more detailed view, the last time I looked at the DPA website, it had a new joiners pack that would be well worth your browsing prior to any interviews with KA.
Consider also, guys are still leaving KA. Reasons are mixed. 6 senior captains very recently, the common theme is they see low cost at home is better for them, in their lives, than B scale commands in HK. Their choice. They are leaving the "golden handcuffs" for some pretty crappy jobs in their prospective homes. (Europe and Australia). Another left for medical reasons, and another sacked. All of them good operators, long service, but all just had enough of "undetermined delays."
With the benefit of having lived here, and working here, would I bring a family to hk now on the C scale? Personally, no. Hope this helps.