Life on the CX Whale Freighter
 

Seriously not wishing to stir the pot. Just asking a basic question, which is the purpose of this forum - right? :eek:

Have a friend who is interviewing for a spot on the Whale. Yes, I have read all about CX and the fleet differences, etc. Hong Kong is SUPER expensive and anyone moving to the area will live in poverty - I completely understand. Again, this is not for me, but a friend at a large Euro LCC who will be interviewing (he has family connections to HKG).

Can knowledgeable people provide an updated and "objective" view into the job-related life for a newhire on the Whale? How many trips per month? What are the pros/cons of that fleet? Do Whale drivers ever get the chance to bid other fleets like the 777 or Airbus fleets?

Any other relevant information would be appreciated. Cheers for any professional answers - PMs also welcome.

Whale oil beef hooked!

What is a whale freighter?

I've never heard the freighter be called a whale. Our 'leader' on the other hand...

Pot shaken and stirred! :ugh:

I think that that some North Americans refer to the B747 as the 'whale'.

No there is no bidding system at Cx. You cannot transfer fleets.
Whale flying you’ll basically be stuck in anc in a hotel on reserve for your trip, with constant phone calls and notes under the door with Schedualing changes. Stay where they are, it’s not worth the move.

92 Guaranteed days off per year and 42 days vacation leave per year. The vacation leave will be in 7 day blocks, but sequential blocks can be bid for in the yearly allocation or potentially shifted around later in a pool.

900 hours max flight time per year with breaks around FTL limitations.

Stack continuously shifting rosters and time on a string around that and that is your life.

There is no bidding, and there is no form of predictability between the published and actually executed roster. Published rosters are largely placeholders for a continuous 'vul' window between GDOs.

What Natca said is largely the way it is.

Anyone thinking of joining this company should have his or her head examined.

Whale? Not sure.

I'm on the Porpoise.. Eat a lot of Curry.
My mates on the Barracuda, spends a lot of time in the Big Apple.

New joiners might even end up across the road on the Red Snapper.. It's hard to say.

~
The Thompson river is ripe with life, but or whatever reason, smells of dead fish.

I flew B747 various for about 13 years between 1987 and 2005 for three companies and never heard the term 'Whale' applied to it.

Yes us North Americans call the 747 a whale and the 737 a guppy no other nicknames for the other Boeing aircraft.

Whale? Well that explains a lot.
My dear chap, what have you Colonials done with our language?
Please can we have it back, preferably intact and devoid of your ever increasing ruinations.

It's becoming awfully tricky to decipher what that chap on Kennedy Ground is saying, heaven knows how the noodle slurpers north of the border (No, not the Canadians, I mean the ones just on the other side of Lok Ma Chau) cope with trying to understand the poor diction, colloquialisms and racing commentary speed of instructions.

There is only one 'whale' in CX....:ooh:

You get to call the shots when you can win your own wars without our help😊

Classic response! Much better than my own. Well done.

LTiCX, you are what Americans call a douche bag. Take your uppity grammar and diction, and stick them up your queen’s ass.

I think the gist of Drop Knee’s comment is substance over style. Of course you wouldn’t know anything about that, and I bet your wife (wives?) doesn’t either.

I realise that the Yanks 'invented' aviation etc, etc. However, their standard of ATC is bordering on rude, ambiguous and generally riddled with systemic colloquialisms. For the best example of impeccable ATC, look no further than London. Further, as the previous just mentioned, since WWII, the US record in wars has been shall we say, less than admirable. Put another way, for the past SEVENTY TWO YEARS, you've got your as*es kicked (not the soldiers fault, strictly the politicians). Other than that, well done.

I was always under the general perception that it was invented by the Cathay training department

Well, the rude, ambiguous bit, yes.

Life whale traveled