KA Cargo ex MAN- a current assessment pls??

[quarefellah]

Hi All,
It's nearly a year since the last post about Dragonair Cargo based in MAN. Can anyone give an up to date picture of life here? Rostering/Salary/ Time to command etc?
Many thanks,

[Extended Range]

Things are pretty bad at KA (cargo) at the moment.
Major a/c tech problems. No simulator as of May. Lots of guys (Capt's + F/O's)leaving for the Airbus and other airlines. Bad rostering practices. Talk of Cathay taking over the freighter fleet!

Could go on but too shagged!!

[quarefellah]

Thanks for that update. That's a very different picture to the one I've been painted by various colleagues (like maybe 180 degrees different).

Anyone else willing to corroborate/contradict this view? Have a LHS on an Airbus but was thinking of going RHS at KA Cargo to be based closer to home. Doesn't sound at all attractive. What happened to the nice route structure, stable roster giving nice days off in MAN etc??? Or has it turned into yet another less than average package??

[Can Not]

Not to mention 11-12 days on with 6 off and then you will be lucky to get home when you are supposed to. Using leave as recovery days and that`s when you have leave. Childish management. I to could go on.

[stormin norman]

The rumour is the manchester base will cease when the 400,s come along. Does anyone have any up to date info. I have some friends flyng for them but their away all the time and totally cheesed of with the way the operation is run.What bet a takeover ?

[BusBoy]

Things at KA ex MAN are not ideal at present.
Leave system stinks, rosters unstable (but you generally get back within a day or so of when you were supposed to), recent pay rise (1st in the 4 years of Cargo operations) equates to 0.5% per year.
Pilots are working to rule with anti management feelings running high. Goodwill has gone.
Rumour of CX take over of some or all of KA unsubstantiated but more and more wet lease operations going on doing nothing to improve morale in Hong Kong as guys are delayed command training due to lack of tainers.

Having said the above there are a great bunch of guys on the fleet, I am glad I work for them but sadly even the most ardent KA supporter is now wavering and beginning to read Flight International from the back. A situation that could still be salvaged, from both sides, before the crew shortage gets to be a very big problem.
We wait with baited breath.

[DRAGONBREATH]

I agree with the statement that we have a great bunch of guys operating the freighter... well motivated people. However, management style can only be described as the "back to school" variety with a hint of ex military overbearing crassness.

Early commands are now a thing of the past, but it's been a great opportunity for the early joiners. Many people are now dissilusioned with the way in which FTL's and poor rostering practices are applied. Be prepared to have the bat pushed up where it hurts... it's Dragonair's ball, and they'll field it in every which way that they can... but not where you can take a swipe at it!

Contract Compliance is now perhaps starting to hurt the Company; but the main thrust is coming from the Airbus crews... freighter crew have largely been in contract compliance for the past couple of years... but gone unnoticed! Very few freighter crew will not work on a day off or even think about going into discretion; largely because the whole company operation is one sided... take, take and take more! Morale is at an all time low; couple that with the lack of a suitable simulator, plus the trickle of people who are now reading Flight International from the rear pages first; leave issues; pay issues; contractual issues... the list goes on; perhaps an accident is waiting to happen! Crews are tired, maintenence isn't the best... and there's always the evergrowing management opportunity to take a swipe at someone or apportion blame where it's not needed.

A 2% increase in salary is on the table for the Manchester based crew... it's an insult. Firstly, they need to have the gratuity boosted to 15%... in line with the rest of the Company... and there should be a vote to reject the pittyful 2% offer.

The fixes that are required to "fix" the ongoing problems can only come from the board and the management... they should look inwards at their own style of management before asking anything more of the dedication and hard graft that has been put in by the people on the shop floor.

It could be a superb operation, but the lack of trained staff within both the operational and administrative departments... and the need for more freighter crew in HKG, makes the whole operation look like the new complex being built on Lantau... Disneyland!

[Hangin' on]

Hhhhmmm, with the crews' morale at an all time low, bloody awful management, the cricket bat etc. etc. seems like the transition if CX takes over will be perfectly smooth........;)