BPP and Pax B Scale

[I'mbatman]

I am a NA freighter FO.

Could some please explain to me exactly, who currently, recieves BPP and what the circumstances are in the future to recieve BPP? I'm not exactly sure from reading on here exactly who is entitled to it and under what circumstances I would eventually, if ever, recieve it.

Also, I think I am missing something, but if there are no vacancies on a PAX Base, your options at the end of the freight committment are to go to HK or stay on your frieghter base at frieghter pay, correct? It seems to me, that if you wanted to stay in NA and there are no pax vacancies, COS '08 would actually be a raise over the freighter payscale.....what am I missing?

IB:ugh:

[BillytheKid]

What about the GMA letter a year ago that says the FCA goes away after the last freighter FO finishes his 3 year committment?

[I'mbatman]

That same piece of paper you are referring to, listed as the very last item, that the entire agreement was subject to change at the companies discretion. Also, does anyone actually happen to know who the last 'freight FO' is? It is not as simple as saying the last guy hired before Jan 1, 2008, b/c there have still been some SO's I believe that have joined the freighter since than as well.

I think one area that needs to be made abundantly clear is what exactly happens to Freigher FO's when the commitment is up and their are no vacancies in NA, and the last freight committment pilot is done with his 3 years.

[prairiedriver]

My understanding is that once you elect to take Cos08 your freighter commitment ceases. Look in crew direct under your options for SLS. It appears to me that effective either July 1 09 or Jan 2011 your freighter commitment ends depending on the choice you make. The exception is HK as there is no Unified scale where you remain on freighter pay and fly freighters until SFO1

[GTC58]

The question is, if you stay on COS99 and finish your 3 year freighter commitment, but you are not able to hold a NA Pax base or prefer to stay on a Freighter only base, when will you receive Pax B-Scale?

My assumption is that the last freighter only FO probably finished the PK somewhere in summer/fall 2008. According to that assumption the company has to start paying Freighter FO's pax b-scale somewhere between summer/fall 2011.

[I'mbatman]

GTC,

Thanks for the reply.....your final sentence, though says, "According to that assumption the company has to start paying Freighter FO's pax b-scale somewhere between summer/fall 2011."

Thats my concern. Is this an assumption or Hard and fast FACT and if so who has proclaimed this? The FACA '08 has a vague and ambiguous statement alluding to the fact that all of us go to B Scale when the last commitment is up. But thats it. No where else does it say anything about us going to B scale. If the assumption that we go to b-scale is false, than for those of us in a port that is only freight(ie jfk, atl, ord), cos '08 makes sense as it is higher than being stuck on freight scales indefinately(assuming you did not go to HK).

we shall see...

[GTC58]

I'mbatman

It is all an assumption not a fact as I mentioned before. I believe this is the paragraph you are referring to:

An Officer whose Date of Joining Cathay Pacific Airways is on or before 31st December 2007
and who solely operates Freighter Aircraft will be paid in accordance with the applicable
Freighter Salary Scale. However, once all such First Officers have completed their Freighter
commitment, First Officer vacancies solely operating Freighter Aircraft will cease to exist and
all FO base vacancies will be awarded in accordance with the Passenger Base vacancy
allocation process. Thereafter, such First Officers will be paid in accordance with the
Passenger Salary Scales.

Funny part is that at the bottom of the policy it says that the company can change the above at their discretion.

Best way to find out is to email the basings office and get an answer from them.
I am sure a lot of guys want to know the answer.

[I'mbatman]

GTC,

I just did what you recommended and fired off an email....I'll post my findings although I'm sure they are swamped with emails right now.

[Oval3Holer]

Don't bother to post your findings... dragonflyhkg will make a post telling everyone not to trust what you post.

[saikung]

Looks to me like you are correct!

[HeavyWrenchFlyer]

I'm predicting that the answer you'll get is that if there are no pax vacancies in the base you want, you keep flying freighter and stay on the freighter payscale until you are awarded a pax vacancy. And if there are more than a few opting to go on cos. 08 and in effect get their pax award on that base you're sh!t out of luck for a while since there won't be any vacancies for a while.

That letter saying "last ftr fo committment done then no fo ftr" is not worth the paper it was written on due to the last line saying it's subject to change. It means nothing. And it only talks about "pax vacancies" anyway. Depending on how many take the cos. 08 on the bases you want there may not be a pax vacancy for a very long time! And don't think this bunch would not love to let you get old on the ftr payscale forever if my prediction is correct. They are extremely vindictive. That's the only reason I might take cos. 08.

Correct me if I'm wrong, anyone!

[backspace]

Interesting, it seems that if you select items 1,2 or 3 and you are freighter crew your freighter committment ceases and on the 1 july 2009 you go onto B scale. There is no mention whether you are a Captain or F/O.

Have I missed something or is this the deal of a lifetime for freighter crew?

[HeavyWrenchFlyer]

Yeah, you go on the "Unified" scale of Cos.08, which is a 6,000 USD a year cut on basic salary as opposed to the B-scale of Cos.99 . That's if you're an FO. If you're a capt. then there's a freighter capt. scale in Cos.08 which is lower than Cos.99 B-scale and you stay on that until you get a pax vacancy.