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SweepTheLeg 25th Oct 2011 01:54

The Standard newspaper article... CX losing pilots
 
What the f*ck did you think would happen, Richard?


Pilot exits may clip Cathay wings - The Standard



Pilot exits may clip Cathay wings

Cathay Pacific would likely be hard-pressed to keep up its expansion plan, with 13 of the 21 pilots hired in the past three months said to have resigned over employment conditions.

Phila Siu

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Cathay Pacific would likely be hard-pressed to keep up its expansion plan, with 13 of the 21 pilots hired in the past three months said to have resigned over employment conditions.
It is understood that many of them are expatriates who find Cathay's offer less attractive than those of other airlines.

It is also believed the airline has only hired about 20 pilots so far this year, excluding those who joined through its training program.

The Hong Kong flag carrier earlier announced plans to hire a total of 250 pilots.

A spokesman said he can neither confirm nor deny the resignation of 13 pilots, and did not respond when asked if it is an unusual situation.

"My colleague had a look at the documents and he said the figures do not look like they match. He said there should probably not be that many [resignations]," the spokesman said.

He said of 86 cadet pilots who joined the airline's training program in the past three months, 44 have been inducted.

Chairman Christopher Pratt said in March Cathay plans to hire 2,300 staff this year, including 250 pilots and 1,300 flight attendants.

Pratt also said the carrier will boost its fleet by another 27 new aircraft, after a record-breaking year in 2010 for net profit, turnover, passengers and cargo.

The supposed resignations, meanwhile, triggered a discussion among pilots in an aviation forum.

One user said 33 pilots have already resigned this year and a "sizable chunk" will quit around December, before the new tax year.

The user, understood to be an expat pilot, said Cathay has been reducing benefits to foreign hires.

The carrier discontinued the housing allowance paid to foreign pilots in April.

Another pilot said the airline is replacing foreign pilots with locals who are entitled to fewer benefits.

Oval3Holer 25th Oct 2011 03:18

When's RH's last day? I heard it was soon.

The Wraith 25th Oct 2011 05:19

Sure will miss him......NOT.

larrikan larry 25th Oct 2011 09:57

What a joke of an airline.

RH....fuc5 off!

sirhcttarp 25th Oct 2011 12:19

net growth
 
last 6 months...

net growth 5 pilots according to the ASL

27 pilots joined and 22 pilots left

Apple Tree Yard 25th Oct 2011 13:01

...really looking forward to meeting the 27. Will be like going to the zoo and studying a small furry animal.

Hedo Rick 25th Oct 2011 14:28

RH Vermin Filth
 
RH is vermin filth to the lowest possible form.

Years of A-Scale salary, extend with all his star chamber buddies and then slide into DFO and destroy new joiners conditions to increase profits and his bonus.

SOPS 25th Oct 2011 19:00

What is his background???...let me guess.......

cyrilroy21 25th Oct 2011 22:43

A little off topic

Could someone post the A scale pay and B scale pay with housing allowances separate ?
Were A scale pilots paid more for housing ?

Thanks :)

Cpt. Underpants 25th Oct 2011 23:01

No, we will NOT post A and B scale pay and allowances.

IT'S NEITHER YOURS NOR ANYONE ELSE' BUSINESS.

Can we have a look at your employer, pay and conditions of service please?

Abbeville 25th Oct 2011 23:21

Interesting address in post #10

cyrilroy21 25th Oct 2011 23:31

I just wanted to see what the cadet pilots were missing out on when it comes to pay and benefits . Thats all

All right no more questions on the above topic

Over and Out

Bob Hawke 26th Oct 2011 04:58

Abbeville, the reason it is an interesting address, methinks is that IS the next recruiting ground for CX.

IndiGo cancels pilot's licence over fake papers, rough landing Female pilot in Goa crash landing loses licence - eTurboNews.com

It appears that these types of licenses are rampart there.

cyrilroy21 26th Oct 2011 05:39


Abbeville, the reason it is an interesting address, methinks is that IS the next recruiting ground for CX.
If CX ever comes here they wont have to face a shortage of applicants that for sure . 6000 unemployed pilots and counting.......



It appears that these types of licenses are rampart there.
Which is why some of us go to countries like the U.S to obtain our licenses and then face the long , tiresome and frustrating process of getting an Indian DGCA license .

A few bad apples and then it becomes easy to blame the whole set :hmm:

cxorcist 26th Oct 2011 06:19

Let's be honest. Pilots are not the same as IT programmers or telemarketers. Of course the product from India is going to be a whole different standard from what CX crews are accustomed to. If this is where the airline is headed, we will be no different than any other Asian carrier. Under those circumstances, I'm not sure this would be a career airline for a gweillo like myself.

Please save the racist comments for someone PC. CX has built a reputation for being the safest airline in Asia and charges a premium for this reality. This has been accomplished by Western pilots. CX figures it can just bank on the past and fly pictures of Nigel B across its ads while hiring a bunch zero time, English second language pilots. Good Luck! We will certainly need it.

Director Fury 26th Oct 2011 07:27

back on topic
 
Can we get back to the Dicky Hall bashing please :ok:

Heard through a friend in MGT that he seems to have completely no idea what is going on in his department and ignores making tough decisions, leaving the dirty work to all his peons.

Spineless tw*t.

D-ENIM 26th Oct 2011 08:16

Rumor has it he's well-liked over at KA. :yuk:

HKPAX 26th Oct 2011 08:22

Some of you guys are taking a risk that CX get a court order against Pprune to disclose your identity to them, and then its back to the 49 situation. There is a line to be drawn between fair criticism and libel. Not say I say you.

crewsunite 26th Oct 2011 09:04

Privicy
 
Privacy - ?

As long as we don't quote company documents here..
It's actually a very good thing to let off abit of steam here than rather on the flt deck.

RH despite being very articulate, he is not a good leader and does not stand up to help make this a premier airline it once was.

Until then he'll get a some bad mouthing..

Heard from someone who heard from someone etc.. that 10 guys are leaving soon for two airlines in Europe.

This does not take into account a good many locals about to hand it in to join HKA.

Both of these the office does not now about yet. Something about collecting yr end bonuses 1st.

Oh boy..

If only I did more Listening to others before coming here..

dreamjob 26th Oct 2011 09:27

With the iCadets who are supposedly leaving, don't they have to pay the Forgivable Loan back?

Good luck with that. Shouldn't have signed on in the first place. :=

emb145gearslinger 26th Oct 2011 13:29

Cyril,
What makes you think 6000 Indians with the bare minimum experience required for a CPL and no real world airline experience are worthy of working at any airline much less Cathay?

Many people (myself included) had to flight instruct, fly night freight, banner tow, pipeline patrol, and traffic watch just to get a foot in the door at an airline flying regional jets and turboprops. Your and other Indians sense of entitlement in regards to airline employment is insulting to those of us who spent years and thousands of hours doing the less than desirable flying before getting on at an airline of the caliber of Cathay Pacific.

geh065 26th Oct 2011 13:42

[QUOTE]Many people (myself included) had to flight instruct, fly night freight, banner tow, pipeline patrol, and traffic watch just to get a foot in the door at an airline flying regional jets and turboprops. Your and other Indians sense of entitlement in regards to airline employment is insulting to those of us who spent years and thousands of hours doing the less than desirable flying before getting on at an airline of the caliber of Cathay Pacific.
QUOTE]

Experience is fantastic...there is little downside to it, however to imply that someone who has not towed banners etc is any less worthy of being an airline pilot is equally insulting to those who rise up through the cadet ranks. some of the best and nicest captains I have flown with have been ex-cadets and to imply that somehow they are not worthy of respect because they have not done the undesirable flying is not particularly professional. Having flown 'undesireable' hours does not neccessarily make you a better pilot than a cadet.

Toruk Macto 26th Oct 2011 13:52

What's the chance it's out of CX's hands. Maybe the government has said no more Expats . Look at ATC !

OneBarWonder 26th Oct 2011 16:34

Quote - 'What's the chance it's out of CX's hands. Maybe the government has said no more Expats . Look at ATC !'

I think that's exactly what's happened. Now CX will have to massage the HKPA until they get the numbers right - hopefully sooner rather than later for everyone's sake.

I can't help but wonder if we'd never allowed there to be such a difference between local cadets and expats terms and conditions in the first place the company wouldn't have been able to get away with doing what they've just done. There'd be no precedent for it.

emb145gearslinger 26th Oct 2011 20:22

Geh065,

You are wrong on many levels. What is your background exactly? I'll tell you mine. I have been a flight school recruiter, CFI in more than one country, and a major airline captain.
You use the term "cadet" in a very broad manner. Not all flight training is created equal. There are true cadet programs that are very structured around a specific airlines SOP's, then there are FBO's that call themselves an academy. These academies (and I worked for one) do nothing more that train you to pass a canned check ride with an examiner which you pay personally (no conflict of interest there) with the minimal amount of experience necessary . You can NOT fail at these types of places. All you have to do is keep throwing more money at them. I have seen students with 150 hours and still not have solo'd "graduate" eventually from these so called academies. A serious cadet program run by an airline with strict performance standards would have kicked out someone who takes 150 hours to solo rather quickly. I know the school Cyril went to. I worked there. We had spoiled Indians showing up with their parents money goofing off for 1 to 2 years smoking pot going to strip clubs and massage parlors. Hardly the type of behavior one would expect for a serious would be professional. This type of conduct was the rule not the exception. There is no enforced completion time line at these schools.
I was also an instructor at an ab-initio school where strict uniform, attendance and performance standards were a must. Failure to make the grade meant being kicked out with no questions asked. There wasn't the possibility to buy your ratings like you could at a so called Academy.

No matter where you did your training nothing can replace experience. The flight training environment does not replicate the real world. Having a flight instructor sitting next to you for 250 hours or less spoon feeding you decisions is not the same as having your own life depend on yours. I'll work next to a new hire FO who flew night freight any day over a wet CPL holder. India kicked out highly experienced foreign FO's a few years ago so they could replace them with a bunch of wet CPL holding Indians who had not flown their Cessnas in over a year in most cases. Was this the safest move in your opinion?

In conclusion. I see Indians on this board constantly whining about the lack of jobs. There is almost always a lack of jobs for the inexperienced and desperate. What infuriates me is that with the thousands of highly experienced unemployed pilots in the world Indians with the least qualifications feel entitled to the best of jobs in the industry. Outside of India with it's protectionist hiring practices, you won't see many Indians with 250 hours flying jets. To the 6000 or so unemployed Indians out there. There are 10,000 or more enemployed pilots with thousands of hours more experience looking for work too. Get in line.

cxorcist 26th Oct 2011 20:59

Thanks Gearslinger. That is pretty much what I suspected. Your post was very informative. It really annoys me when cadet types act as if their academy time legitimizes them as pilots. I suppose it is a case of not knowing what you don't know. God save us if this becomes the future of CX.

Defenders of the cadet program point to its long history at CX. However, previous cadets were never needed to become Captains as there were always plenty of expats. With the cadet program being the only entry mechanism. These pilots will have to become captains. That will put downward pressure on the CX standard over time. I have no doubt. Congratulations RH and SK!

cyrilroy21 26th Oct 2011 23:08

Its easy isnt it . You see someone from a particular part of the world and assume that everyone of them are the same type or kind that you might have seen or experienced .

I 'll agree to most of what emb145gearslinger said regarding my flying school before I arrived there . It was out of control . Thankfully a new management was appointed and kicked all those who were underperforming or violated the rules frequently .
But this was something common in other flying schools within the U.S . Indian students were always the bad apples .
Most of them never wanted to become pilots . They decided overnight to head to the U.S and become pilots because thats what their friends did . They werent there because liked flying . They just wanted to end up in the U.S , drink , smoke and party all the time . Most of them would not come to fly . I remember one particular guy just disappeared from the school for two weeks and then appeared all of a sudden out of nowhere . Needless to say he wasnt there in the school for long .
These guys even flunked their written exams :eek: as well as stage checks and checkrides .
My earlier posts regarding my flying school can be found in my history .

I worked for all my ratings and finished them on time . Never flunk any of my exams and I dont think the FAA DPE who was a Senior US airways check captain would have passed me if he did not think I was qualified to pass the exams . For the record this particular captain had 50% pass rate at my flying school . So all those posts about no failures is completely false .

But all the above does not mean I am a hot shot pilot and that i know everything . I am not sure what gave you that idea . I have miles to go and lot to learn and experience .


Having a flight instructor sitting next to you for 250 hours or less spoon feeding you decisions is not the same as having your own life depend on yours
This something that would happen if you learn to fly in India . But in the U.S where i leant to fly my total dual time was about 110 hours the rest of the hours where all PIC cross country flying , all the way to 250 without any instructors on board .


No matter where you did your training nothing can replace experience. The flight training environment does not replicate the real world.
I dont argue with this fact and agree with the same .


India kicked out highly experienced foreign FO's a few years ago so they could replace them with a bunch of wet CPL holding Indians who had not flown their Cessnas in over a year in most cases. Was this the safest move in your opinion?
If India did not do this all Indian Citizens with a CPL would sit on the ground unemployed forever as they do not have any other opportunities for to build experience .
I believe this is case with most countries even including the U.S . You have to be European to be employed in Europe , You have to be canadian to be employed in Canada , same goes for australia and south africa .

Even if I did have have 3000 hours PIC on a B747 i will never be allowed to be employed with a even a U.S regional airline let alone a major . They will probably hire someone with 500 tt piston and 100 multi piston .
Hows that for protectionism ?
What the Indian govt did is no different than what govt's of other countries did and that was to see to it the locals did not go unemployed .


Outside of India with it's protectionist hiring practices, you won't see many Indians with 250 hours flying jets
The only place you wont see such practices happen is in countries that have a developed General Aviation economy . Eg: U.S , Canada , Australia
Because GA supplies experienced pilots airlines in these countries keep their minimums high . If they cant find experienced pilots naturally they will lower their requirements to the min or whatever is the highest available .

All other countries hire their locals with the highest experience available otherwise these locals will never get a chance in their whole life to become pilots

Ironically a lot of U.S regional airlines did hire 250tt and 50 multi straight out of flying school back in 2006 and 2007 .
Pinnacle airlines does that today for graduates of Western Michigan University's flight program . They walk into Pinnacle without even having to give an interview .


I am quite sure all those unemployed pilots in India will take any pilot job that comes their way . So when you cant find jobs at home you start looking outside . No different than any other unemployed pilot anywhere else in the world whether experienced or not .


The funny thing is all I asked was what the A scale and B scale pilot pay was at Cathay and the thread ended up bashing unemployed Indian Pilots because the guy who asked the question happened to be from India :ugh:


I am sorry I did not mean to insult anyone with my posts . But its does get on ones nerves when people start painting you with same brush they paint everyone else

And no I am not applying at Cathay because I dont want to undercut someone else's pay . Sooner or later they are going to stuff the very same terms and conditions down the throats of Senior Cathay pilots on the old pay scale .
By then it will be too late to search for expat jobs as all the locals of these developing countries would have upgraded to captain by then .
I dont want to be the cause for downgrading your career


Good Day Gentlemen

jpcx 27th Oct 2011 00:47

Such a long winded response from a guy that isn't with Cathay nor wants to. Enjoy india

tiger321 27th Oct 2011 01:16

Fantastic reply Cyril,

You sound like you have a level head and good attitude - just the type of person we should be employing at CX. You are also doing yourself a favour by not taking this ridiculous new contract. It really is an insult to hire expats and then pay local terms.

I have no doubts that with your good attitide that you will find a good job in time. Perhaps when the CX mamagement see past their greed and offer a respectable package it will even be at CX. You will be welcome on my flightdeck anytime.

jpcx, you are a clown!

geh065 27th Oct 2011 02:39

How on earth did any of this become about Indians? I thought we were talking about the CX cadet scheme?

MrClaus 27th Oct 2011 02:41

That was quite a mature and well balanced response Cyril. Good on you. To answer your question about A & B scales. A scale basically doesn't exist anymore and refers to the package that guys had almost a decade ago. B scales is what happened when CX management attacked the A scale package and is much reduced. Most guys are on B scales. C scale is basically B scale minus the expat housing allowance. It is what everyone is basically warning you about.

Good luck with whatever you do.

Adam Nams 27th Oct 2011 02:48

From this morning's Standard:


Cathay denies claims of shortage in cockpits

Phila Siu

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Cathay Pacific Airways yesterday dismissed claims of a pilot shortage, saying its ongoing recruitment drive is in line with its expansion plans.

A spokeswoman said 112 pilots are expected to join this year, while 43 have resigned, retired or leaving for other reasons.
This leaves a net growth of 69 pilots - excluding the 44 trainees who have become full-fledged pilots over the last three months.
However, this is still a far cry from the 250 pilots that chairman Christopher Pratt has said he hopes to hire this year.
The airline currently employs about 2,500 pilots. The spokeswoman said that, when looking into the airline's recruitment progress, the number of cadet pilots under training should also be taken into consideration.
She said there are 143 cadet pilots who will be joining Cathay after completing their training, which takes 10 to 60 weeks, depending on ability and performance.

The recruitment drive comes amid growing complaints from pilots who claim they are being asked to work excessive hours. According to a captain, pilots are assigned "field reserve" days, in which they have to show up at work ready to replace a colleague who cannot fly due to sickness, tardiness
Tardiness??:D


or other reasons.

There are also "home reserve" days when pilots are allowed to do their own thing, but should be prepared to answer a call to work when the "field reserve" pilots have been used up.
The captain told The Standard there have been complaints that "home reserve" pilots are being used excessively. "It is like being a military pilot, where you can be called to fly on a moment's notice, leaving you with little personal time to relax and not think of work," he said.
Sir, being ex-military myself how dare you compare being an airline pilot to being in the military. :mad::mad:

My heart bleeds for you all. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:



"If the scheduling department was more efficient, there should be little to no utilization of home reserve crew members."
He said this inefficiency has led to a more disgruntled flight crew.
Another pilot said that while he hasn't heard of massive resignations recently, Cathay is running short of pilots.
Yet another claimed that many pilots in the United States and Britain are planning to move to Hong Kong to work for Cathay Pacific, as some airlines in the two countries are suffering.
He added that many are reportedly willing to accept lower salaries just to secure jobs. But none of them have made an application yet, he said.

MrClaus 27th Oct 2011 03:19

As usual, The Standard is grasping at straws in its quest to becoming a real newspaper. Sounds like they found 4 guys at a bar in Wanchai and turned it into 'news'. Everyones leaving, everyones coming, there will be no bases, everyone is going to be on a base....

Yesterdays rumours into this mornings news. Great journalism. How about they break down those numbers that those CX spin doctors gave them, look at the real per month growth and write something worth reading for a change.

cxorcist 27th Oct 2011 04:01

I'll give you the only number that matters:

Since the ASL/KA/Oasis integration in 2008, we have had approximately 2500 pilots. Take a look, we still have approximately 2500 pilots. You can get very fancy with the math, but that does not look like growth no matter how you slice it.

MrClaus 27th Oct 2011 07:06

I'm not disputing the fact we are going backwards. Every time they beg me to work a G day that is apparent. But...it would be nice to have something written in the general media that is a bit more intelligently written for a change. It actually demeans the general thrust of the article when you start relying on what 'a guy' said. It makes it easy for CX to shoot it down with a few numbers here and there.

emb145gearslinger 27th Oct 2011 07:59

Geh065,

To answer your question see post #16. That is how Indians were injected into the thread.

nitpicker330 28th Oct 2011 08:20

The wheels haven't fallen off yet but they are loose. :D

AQIS Boigu 28th Oct 2011 11:47

well...according to the GMA everything seems to be in order...

Sqwak7700 28th Oct 2011 17:01


well...according to the GMA everything seems to be in order...
Yeah, I like how he says the newspaper got their info wrong... yeah, because you wanted it that way!

Cathay's original comment to the paper was that they "can't confirm or deny", standard PR bull****t to cover something up.

The real story should be that at a time where most people in the industry are concerned about the growing lack of pilots that can actually "fly", Cathay is out recruiting the bottom of the barrel 0 flight time talent from all over the world.

Unfortunately, nobody really "manages" this place any more, they just nickel and dime it to death. I really hope I'm not on-board when we have our Colgan or Air France moment. :uhoh:

koi 28th Oct 2011 19:20

BA Hamble 1974 > BCal 1976 until the BA takeover > then out to HK.
It was always going to happen.
Many many things are decided so early in life


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