That's what I used to say regarding this lot for over a quarter of a century. But now, CX is attracting lots of 'shiny jetters' and South Africans desperate to get out of their dysfunctional homeland so maybe the company feels they don't need to. Housing 'subsidy' is significantly lower and education allowance is now non-existent. Both these groups are flying for peanuts and accepting living conditions in Hong Kong on the offered terms, there are plenty of trainers voluntarily diluting their own contract and training them up to standard, so on the whole, the jets are being crewed.
So now, where is the incentive for them to offer commuting or bases? CX could'n't care less whether wives or family are 'happy' unless a critical mass of pilots vote with their feet and leave for that reason, and that hasn't happened so far. And senior (read 'expensive') crew who leave are replaced with the trained-up 'cheapies' so it is actually win-win for the company.
Last edited by Captain Dart; 25th Apr 2017 at 23:47.