Originally Posted by
sewerpiper
So I was an HKA FO for 3 years living on that salary (its actually about 90-95K) and it wasn't that bad. Its not something you want to do for a long period of time, but were we (two kids and a wife) suffering? No. We bought a car and moved to a small village in south lantau. Tung Chung is not a place you want to live, unless you like living in a tiny concrete box in the sky. We had two stories of a home plus a rooftop for 20K. I have no regrets and would still be there if it weren't for a few things like the horrible upgrade process and the bad environment for my family. Met a lot of great people and the experience there got me a fantastic job back home, something I will always be grateful of HKA for.
Can I ask did you insure yourself and your family ?
The DPA strongly advises members to insure themselves due a long, sad litany of tragic events affecting pilots and their families. Health care is inadequate and may bankrupt you. As could loss of licence.
The cost is about $10,000 USD a year unless the HKA or the pilots union has strong insurance policies for pilots? The subject rarely gets a mention, though every year I've been here, there's more than one event where pilots are crippled financially due poor insurance cover.
Of course, it can't happen to me.......or my wife, or my kids.......