To Interview or Not??

[Artificial Horizon]

I currently work for British Airways put are originally from down under and would like to ultimately return down south at some point. I have just been offered interview with Cathay in March. Now I am in a dilemma, BA is a great airline to work for but will never offer the opportunity of a base in Australasia. I am very junior at the moment and are considering the switch to second officer at Cathay. Before I take it any further I would like to know from any of the Cathay bunch out there, how long in reality until a move away from Hong Kong would be. The company just quotes the whole `after two years you can bid for a change in base´, I am not silly enough to think that there isn´t a longer wait than this. Any one give me any ideas???

Cheers

[flyingkiwi]

5 years till a NZL base mabe 4.5 years for an Aus one. A long long wait for an AKL command, Syd/ Mel commands would be avail soon after your upgrade, approx 9.5 years after joining, Off course if you dont mind about pay you could always take a DE FO freighter position out of Syd immediately and if you are really brave you could try for a command after 2 or so years.

[Artificial Horizon]

cheers flyingkiwi, I think that I will give the interview a whirl and leave the decision up to the gods. There is a good chance I will never have to seriously contemplate the change judging by the success rate at interview.

[flyingkiwi]

best way to go, good luck for it and your choice.

[tunjan]

AH, check your PM's
R

[404 Titan]

Artificial Horizon

To give you and accurate estimate of how long it will take to get an Aus or NZ permanent basing we must look at upgrade times from S/O and the qualifications and fleet that you must be on to get the base. First of all to get a permanent base on the pax fleet in Aus or NZ you must be on the Airbus fleet. For Aus and I am pretty much sure NZ as well you need CCQ and also for NZ you must be relief command qualified. Let’s look at all of these requirements one at a time:

S/O to JFO = 4 years at present
JFO to FO = 9 months minimum (including sim and line training)
330 FO to CCQ FO = 6 months minimum
Total = 5 years 3 months (Min for Aus base)
Relief Command Qualified = 12 months
Total = 6 years 3 months (Min for NZ base)

Realistically at present you won’t see a permanent Australian base before 5½ years in CX and 6½ years for New Zealand, based on current upgrade times and the scheduling of line checks and training etc. This is also assuming a base is available and you are senior enough to be awarded it.

If this sounds too long I would suggest a direct entry F/O position on the freighter fleet based in Australia, assuming they are looking for people down there at present.

[Truckmasters]

Alternatively join onto any fleet (DEFO or DESO) and then when the opportunity is available, apply for a FO position on freight for Aus Basing. As far as I am aware all positions, such as FO freight, are advertised internally before new joiners are offered them. In other words if a pax SO meets the requirements and there is only one slot, the new joiner will continue to be unemployed and the SO will get the upgrade.

[Artificial Horizon]

Thanks for the info guys, it is exactly what I am looking for. I will certainly go to interview and see what happens. The important thing to me is that atleast with Cathay the opportunity will present itself to move downunder at some point in the future. Thanks for all the advice.

A.H.

[Drunknsailor]

Worst case, HK is only 10-12 hrs away as opposed to substantially more from the UK.

[CloudSailor]

404 Titan, would you happen to have the numbers for USA basing after joining CX as a DESO? The numbers you provided AH for AUS and NZ basings seem very accurate, just wondering if you have the same info. for the US permanent basing on PAX/FRT fleets?
Thanks.

[404 Titan]

CloudSailor

For a US permanent basing on the pax fleet after joining as a DESO you are looking at a time scale of about 5 years at present. In other words you don’t need to be Relief Command qualified and there is no CCQ requirement. You also have to be on the B744 fleet. The only main variable is the time it takes for upgrade from S/O to JFO and seniority.

If you joined as a DEFO on the freighter fleet then once you have completed your training you must take up your assigned US base. This will normally be about 4 – 6 months after date of joining.

[energie]

Sorry to ask,

1. CCQ is only required if they are on the airbus fleet right? If I remember correctly it is a qualification developed by airbus so pilots can convert from one type of aircraft to anothre easier

2. How come in order to be based in the US, you have to be on the B744 fleet? Don't we fly airbuses into NA (US + Canada) as well?

[404 Titan]

energie

1. Correct
2. B744 flies to SFO, LAX, YVR & JFK
A340 flies to YVR, YYZ, ANC (tech stop only) and JFK
Bases on Airbus in N/America are YVR & YYZ
Bases on B744 pax fleet N/America are SFO, LAX and I think YVR.

As the question specifically asked about US bases that is what I based my answer on.

[energie]

wonderful thanks

one last question. I didn't know we stop in ANC at all, what are tech stops for?

[flyingkiwi]

Tech stops in PANC are for stocking up the Cooler (eskie for the Austrailians) with the best Halibut on the planet, Drinking Alaskan Amber in Humpies and learning the true meaning of RVR in blowing snow. The boys have been known to go Halibut fishing in prince william sound, skiing in Alayaska, or may be spotted in the ABC...

From an aircraft point of view, the tech stop was only from YYZ to HKG due to not having the range to go direct with the headwinds, We used to go direct HKG-YYZ in the winter with the tailwinds aiding the journey and only tech stopping in summer, However it was decided to stop in both directions all year round as they could fit substanitally more pax and cargo on if they didnt have to dpeart HKG with 16hrs of gas.

If you want a North America base on the pax fleet in the future make sure when Denly Hau asks you your upgrade prefference answer 777.

[energie]

cool, but from my understanding, we already have flights that goes from YYZ->YVR->HKG, so having another hub up north in Alaska just to fullfill that requirement(fuel stop) doesn't seem economically smart. Am I way off here?

[404 Titan]

energie

YVR was used as a tech stop up until about a year ago because the US made it difficult to use ANC as a tech stop after 911. Once the issues were sorted out with the Americans ANC was once again used as it is the most economical stopover point to Asia from the east coast of North America. YVR is way out of the way and has substantial payload and commercial penalties because of this.