Hi Guys,
To start I am not in Cathay, but also wish everybody out there was on the expat conditions.
Just a message here to let you know what kind of options a FO flying around in Europe has.
- Staying in Europe in your own country
o BA: great! Don’t need to explain.
o Not BA & possible with English language only
Thomson: pay scale in steps of 5 year. Stable job and income but not great (no villa money). Also long time to command.
Besides those two its Monarch or low cost airlines (Ryanair, Easyjet, Norwegian). If you work for a low cost airline conditions are very poor and unstable. Every airline is a bit different but most get only an hourly rate and NOTHING besides that. No insurance (LOL, health), no or very small pension, no sick pay, no pay if your flight is cancelled, no pay if you are stuck on the ground tech or due weather.
In Ryanair the pay scale is for you probably a Z scale. You start now with about 70,50 Euro per hour as a FO. And as a captain you end up with about 110-130 Euro per hour. Note that after you made your quick upgrade to Captain you be most likely on the same pay till you stop working (no inflation correction, no nothing)
- Moving abroad: Again low cost, Middle East, CargoLux. Or wait, become a captain and go to China.
This might show you guys what we need to deal with in Europe and why even C-scale is an option. It’s a race to the bottom in Europe.
And for most other nationalities it’s the same in Europe; most of the time only one proper legacy airline in your country. If you are unlucky and don’t get the job, there’s nothing else left and Cathay looks a lot better.