Hong Kong Airlines: Return Of The Jedi
"Admittedly the current HKA mismanagement will need to change dramatically to ensure the long-term survival of the airline".
It will survive thanks to Hainan money but the mismangment will continue and that is what makes working there so bad.
It will survive thanks to Hainan money but the mismangment will continue and that is what makes working there so bad.
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Shanghai China
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Hong Kong Airlines is rubbish
I worked two years for HKA. It's rubbish! The correct name is : HONG KONG AIRLIES ! Bad tricky management! A mafia of singaporeans ! Liars vampires. They make a lot of promises and then they try to suck your blood!
Don't trust 'em !
Don't trust 'em !
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Asia
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There is some useful info in thread "Demise of Hong Kong Airlines" - there are also a lot of insults and ranting from some of the many pilots who were sacked last year or lied to over promised upgrades or commuter contracts that never happened!
Try pages 43 and 45 for a start. The info is a bit old but mostly still true.
For an idea of the Chinese management style see; Punishment for not reciting "apothegm"
I met 2 pilots recently who have joined HKA and they are really regretting their decision. They were complaining that everything is badly organised. No information, no help with HKCAD exams, no time for finding accommodation after their 2 weeks in a cheap hotel finishes (they were surprised how expensive rent is in HK), sim sessions in PEK cancelled, hotel in PEK not booked, no uniform, pay for your own medical etc etc.
The other problem they've found is that most pay is duty pay. So no flying = very low basic pay. Until HKA has a stable fleet, stable routes and stable pilot numbers the flying hours will, by necessity, be very low.
Try pages 43 and 45 for a start. The info is a bit old but mostly still true.
For an idea of the Chinese management style see; Punishment for not reciting "apothegm"
I met 2 pilots recently who have joined HKA and they are really regretting their decision. They were complaining that everything is badly organised. No information, no help with HKCAD exams, no time for finding accommodation after their 2 weeks in a cheap hotel finishes (they were surprised how expensive rent is in HK), sim sessions in PEK cancelled, hotel in PEK not booked, no uniform, pay for your own medical etc etc.
The other problem they've found is that most pay is duty pay. So no flying = very low basic pay. Until HKA has a stable fleet, stable routes and stable pilot numbers the flying hours will, by necessity, be very low.
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Hong Kong
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I met 2 pilots recently who have joined HKA and they are really regretting their decision. They were complaining that everything is badly organised. No information, no help with HKCAD exams, no time for finding accommodation after their 2 weeks in a cheap hotel finishes (they were surprised how expensive rent is in HK), sim sessions in PEK cancelled, hotel in PEK not booked, no uniform, pay for your own medical etc etc.
You are in the loop as it seem to be. Big mess... is what you mean?
The rumour of massive resignation of management and Hainan taking over soon.
Very sad for KA and CX prospects!
Safe landings!
Join Date: Sep 2007
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yesterday's flight was downgraded to a B737 (and it departed over 2 hours late) whilst there was an A330 parked against the fence. No crew perhaps
The downgrade you mention would simply be to try and lose less money, I seriously doubt Hainan have as much spare cash as the snakes at HKA ( past and present ) would have us believe. ( 12 months ago they could'nt pay there airport fees and had a massive hand out from the government )
They have George Soros behind them as well as Hainan group.
They are not short of a dollar or two.
Spending some of this money replacing allegedly inept Flight Ops staff might be a good start,
They are not short of a dollar or two.
Spending some of this money replacing allegedly inept Flight Ops staff might be a good start,
Join Date: Sep 2010
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All of you are correct. For the time being there is only around 10 pilots for their A332 fleet. They ven dont have enough pilots to bring back the 332 freighter.
Brand new cargo sitting on the toulouse tarmac with no pilots, wot a joke.
did you know that their crew traing in syx, and they were given a boarding house like accommodation, filty and dirty.
oh another joke, flew to ICN, U/S PA, no go item, KAL i got it, but pay ur outstanding bills b4 u even depart.
oh get a load of this, alt for zbaa is zbtj, however no contract or GHA in zbtj if it gets divert there. hahaha load of joke.
agree
mafia sings and triads chinese = innocent employees
Brand new cargo sitting on the toulouse tarmac with no pilots, wot a joke.
did you know that their crew traing in syx, and they were given a boarding house like accommodation, filty and dirty.
oh another joke, flew to ICN, U/S PA, no go item, KAL i got it, but pay ur outstanding bills b4 u even depart.
oh get a load of this, alt for zbaa is zbtj, however no contract or GHA in zbtj if it gets divert there. hahaha load of joke.
agree
mafia sings and triads chinese = innocent employees
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Heaven compared to Hong Kong
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posted on the "demise" thread, but valid here...
Facts
Captain Salary 65,000
Co-Pilot 45,000
* included in this amount is 15,000 which may or not be paid at company discretion
If you love minimum rest trip away from home; you will Love HKA.
Come to work for HKA if you love the following.
Still want to come to HKA? Before making the move come to Hong Kong see the rents at 30,000 a month, and read all this info which is still valid. The company is sub-standard, and the management are making no steps to listen to pilot suggestions on how to improve morale and conditions. Do you really want to associate yourself with that? You can do better. Good luck
Facts
Captain Salary 65,000
Co-Pilot 45,000
* included in this amount is 15,000 which may or not be paid at company discretion
If you love minimum rest trip away from home; you will Love HKA.
Come to work for HKA if you love the following.
- If you like last minute roster changes
- Low salary
- High living cost.
- Uncertainty, and contract changes without consultation with the pilot group
- A company that has made it policy not to communicate with pilots on contractual or matters about terms and conditions
- Management that are so childish they have fist fights in the office more than once
- Your annual leave will only be approved 3 weeks before you get it. You can never apply for something 6 months or even 2 months in advance. If you try to request annual leave off 12 months in advance for your brother wedding it will be impossible.
- Your 401k (retirement savings) are less that 5% salary Other airlines are 15 to 18%
- If you take sick leave you get penilized. This encourages people to work sick and spread disease and even worse operate when ill..
- You do not get extra money to work on your days off.
- You do not get paid to work public holiday, and do not get even an extra day off if you do
- Medical is really not good for anything.
- No schooling, and some of the highest primary and secondary school fees in the world
- No housing allowance and rents are at all time high in Hong Kong
- The company has no master plan. No direction
- Load factor to Moscow is very low, can not be sustained.
- Money losses are huge
- Obvious bad management decisions are being made and we just shake our head in disbelief
- Annual leave 1/2 that of most airlines
- A company that has many court cases against them, and has lost many previously
- You will always be late, and forced to extend duty.
- If the arriving aircraft is late you will not be advised prior to leaving home for duty, you find out after sign on that the aircraft is running 3 hours late
- Long haul roster the worst I have seen in my life
- A company so disorganized that is could not even foresee the future pilot requirements for training. Now aircraft are parked against the fence
- Even type rated pilots will be highly bonded
- No loss of licence insurance
- Poor support and assistance at outports. You’re on your own.
Still want to come to HKA? Before making the move come to Hong Kong see the rents at 30,000 a month, and read all this info which is still valid. The company is sub-standard, and the management are making no steps to listen to pilot suggestions on how to improve morale and conditions. Do you really want to associate yourself with that? You can do better. Good luck
Join Date: Sep 2007
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Changi is right, and most of the posters on " demise of HKA " have moved on to bigger and better things and lots even got to go home ( huge bonus ), so do not believe the BS from a few idiots that say we are all bitter and twisted, we are just trying to help others from making the same stupid decision we did.
Join Date: Nov 2007
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Haven't looked back to this thread for awhile.
Fooeys right. I got to leave an fly at larger airline in country with better air.
I'm not mad @ HKA anymore.
I'm mad at myself at believing the hype and joining.
Read everything and if you choose to join,
It's your own fault.
It was mine.
Fooeys right. I got to leave an fly at larger airline in country with better air.
I'm not mad @ HKA anymore.
I'm mad at myself at believing the hype and joining.
Read everything and if you choose to join,
It's your own fault.
It was mine.
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Far East
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Current Hiring Scene
For those that have an interest, I guess this is the current hiring scene at HKA.
Received the following on 26 August 2010
Dear ****,
The attached application forms can be typed directly into and you only have to complete pages 1 to 7; the rest are auto-filled. They must be completed fully and accurately as they are also intended for your licence application.
If you have electronic signature, you may affix it to pages 9 to 17 where required but leave the rest of the spaces as they are.
Use page 8 as the check list for the documents you need to attach and tick the boxes of the documents attached. All documents must be attached before CAD will process your request for licence conversion. In the event you no longer have your ATPL results, kindly use the sample letter for your authorities to complete for certification purposes.
Claim only whole hours (rounded down) and not the minutes to avoid error.
Owing to overwhelming response, the processing of your application will take about 21 working days to process. You should contact us again if you do not hear from us after that period.
Kindly use this interim email address to send your application forms as we are in the process of up-grading our computer system.
Best Wishes
HKA Recruitment Team
I submitted my application and waited........ Received the following e-mail yesterday, 11 September 2010.
Dear ****,
We are recruiting F/Os who are currently flying B737s and regret to
inform you that you are not successful. We do not require any more
documents from you.
Thank you for your interest in HKA>
Dudley Leicester
For anyone wondering if HKA is hiring non-typed pilots, they're not!
Received the following on 26 August 2010
Dear ****,
The attached application forms can be typed directly into and you only have to complete pages 1 to 7; the rest are auto-filled. They must be completed fully and accurately as they are also intended for your licence application.
If you have electronic signature, you may affix it to pages 9 to 17 where required but leave the rest of the spaces as they are.
Use page 8 as the check list for the documents you need to attach and tick the boxes of the documents attached. All documents must be attached before CAD will process your request for licence conversion. In the event you no longer have your ATPL results, kindly use the sample letter for your authorities to complete for certification purposes.
Claim only whole hours (rounded down) and not the minutes to avoid error.
Owing to overwhelming response, the processing of your application will take about 21 working days to process. You should contact us again if you do not hear from us after that period.
Kindly use this interim email address to send your application forms as we are in the process of up-grading our computer system.
Best Wishes
HKA Recruitment Team
I submitted my application and waited........ Received the following e-mail yesterday, 11 September 2010.
Dear ****,
We are recruiting F/Os who are currently flying B737s and regret to
inform you that you are not successful. We do not require any more
documents from you.
Thank you for your interest in HKA>
Dudley Leicester
For anyone wondering if HKA is hiring non-typed pilots, they're not!
Join Date: Nov 2007
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For anyone wondering if HKA is hiring non-typed pilots, they're not!
Join Date: Sep 2007
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I have it on very good authority that the latest additional requirments for HKA are :
Must be proficient in boxing or some form of martial art
and
First aid certificate a definite advantage ( you may need to administer fist aid to a fellow tech crew member or management )
HKA Ultimate Cage fighting, bring it on
Must be proficient in boxing or some form of martial art
and
First aid certificate a definite advantage ( you may need to administer fist aid to a fellow tech crew member or management )
HKA Ultimate Cage fighting, bring it on
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: london
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UUUUPS
Just sent my application to these guys. Unfortunately before reading this post.
Sorry guys/gals - wont happen again. I will wipe my bottom with their repply. Outfits like these should be stopped and pilots working for them should borrow their moms dress and take dancing lessons instead.
Sorry guys/gals - wont happen again. I will wipe my bottom with their repply. Outfits like these should be stopped and pilots working for them should borrow their moms dress and take dancing lessons instead.
Join Date: Aug 2010
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The management at HKA and HKE are pathalogical liars. Signing a contract with them means nothing. They will change it to suit themselves whenever they like. People are leaving in droves for good reason. Maybe when the flights can't be manned Hainan will root out this useless bunch and try to turn it into a real airline with genuine management.