CX SO Pay / Benefits...

[FattyBarr]

Hi,

I have read through the vast majority of the main CX SO wannabe post and cant find any recent info on realistic pay scales, leave entitlements, education fee's etc etc.

Please can someone (preferably someone who actually knows!) tell me how realistic the main benefits as advertised on the CX recruitment page are;


15.5% Company contribution to a pension scheme
Comprehensive private health insurance coverage for you, your spouse and your children
Up to 90% education allowance to assist with your children’s education in Hong Kong
Extensive travel discounts for you, your spouse, your children and your parents or in-laws
Discretionary share in the Company’s annual profit
Discretionary 13th-month salary bonus for
Annual salary increments within rank
I am particulary interested in;

How many days paid leave you are entitled to a year?
How good the 'extensive travel discounts' are for myself or my family? (rough price of a ticket for my wife, daughter and I to pop back over to the UK)
How forthcoming the company are with providing 'up to 90% eduaction allowance'?

I would also be very intertested to hear if the advertised 45,000 HKD / month is the absolute max I could expect to earn initially? If I would be entitled to sector pay? and how soon could I expect my earnings to improve?

I would greatly appriciate any assistance / advice.

Many Thanks.

[SloppyJoe]

As an SO you get 21 days leave per year. One of the best bits about being an SO though is you will get 10 days off in a row most months if you request and swap trips/days off. Not being on the Airbus fleet helps.

You basically pay 10% for standby. Round trip to UK in economy is about HK$3,000 and in business is about HK$5,000. UK is a bad example because of the disgraceful tax. Same trip to Amsterdam is about 2000 or 3000 HK$. When its holidays for kids or any other travel time forget an easy trip back to UK, loads can be full for weeks.

You get the education allowance as advertised, no catch other than someone who joined a few years before you as an expat gets GB£22,000 a year to send each kid to a UK school if they want.

Honestly with a wife and child I doubt you would get the job. Cathay know it is not possible to remain happy here on that and you would leave. They will not offer it to you for this reason.

[FattyBarr]

Thanks for your reply....

Do you have any say in rosters/routes? and How long do you generally spend down route?

Cheers

[PCLCREW]

fattybarr

With a wife and a child I would forget about this job... On the old terms the SO job was somewhat do-able. On the cadet pilot terms with a wife and child you will be in way over your head in HKG.

[KriVa]

I was wondering...
I don't have a girl, let alone a wife. I'm in my early twenties, living in Belgium. Moving to HK would be an adventure for me, I love the flying world (have been working as Cabin Crew for a while now) and everything it holds. Well, just about everything ;)
Do you guys think this is a decent offer for someone in my situation? I wouldn't even dream about getting a loan to pay for the education myself, which is frankly the only thing holding me back.

[fly123456]

Do you guys think this is a decent offer for someone in my situation?

Sure, if it improves your lifestyle, why don't you give it a shot?
If they pay for your training + rating, and you have to work 6 years with them to pay it off, it's not a bad deal. Then you can always move on. (and I know I would)

[Cpt. Underpants]

fly1234567890

IT'S NOT FREE

If you're indentured to the company for six years, how can it be "free"?

You're paying for it, and then some. Just TWO years of your ****e contract and CX have paid for it, and for the balance of your career here, YOU PAY. Gettit?

[KriVa]

I know it's not "free". But as long as I can support myself, without having to live like a caveman, I'm fine.
I really don't mind being S/O for the first few years. I really don't mind being tied to CX for the first 10 years (give or take a few). I don't see CX as a "stepping stone"airline, but as a career airline. I wouldn't mind permanently living in Hong Kong, but that's just it, I want to live, not just survive.
Is that possible?

[flapsupdown]

Just wanted to put some emphasis on the point above.

It is NOT free by any means. You don't pay for your training up front, but you have a stigma attached to you for the rest of your career at Cathay Pacific. By providing you with the training and not paying housing, the company makes up that money in a couple of years, but you are still on the same contract FOR THE REST OF YOUR CAREER.

And to survive, YES. To Live, no, not really.

[711]

Could it be, that we look at the C scalers the same way the A scalers looked at us 15 years ago?