Social Media Policy
 

There are seminal moments in CX where management actions speak louder than they intend. Take their new Social Media Policy. This is in response to the catastrophic public reputation that CX now has around the world. Most pilots don't even consider applying to CX due to the well established attacks on aircrew, intimidation and bullying (like this new policy!), and the completely inadequate package on offer. A package that forces pilots to live like college students in a very small dormitory. Even if a pilot hears about CX, and they haven't really availed themselves of the facts at that point, they quickly get the facts from this forum and many others. The new company policy is due to the panic that is setting in as they find they can't attract pilots, and are losing and will continue to lose many of the ones they already have. Interestingly, this attempt to 'censor' the pilot body is a classic sign of a failing regime, be it business or political. The genie is out of the bottle, and it is comical that CX feels they can shut down worldwide communications and dissemination of information. To CX management: you can no more contain the truth than you can stop the tides. As they used to say on the "X-Files" series on TV....the "Truth is Out There". Oh, and btw, the only thing that needs censoring are the lies and threats that emanate from CX city.

Ok, i'll do my best to comply.

1) CX is NOT a bullying, corrupt employer.
2) CX provides wonderful packages for all pilots, where you can live in the lap of luxury and purchase a luxury yacht and a Maserati.
3) CX has the BEST management in the industry, with the senior Flt Ops manager being like, really smart...I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius, and a very stable genius at that!
4) CX upholds all their contracts to the letter. You can BANK on it !!
5) CX provides a stable, rewarding career (especially if you are management!)

Well, I hope that clears up any misunderstandings over previous comments, and as you can see, I am here to support MY management any moment of the day or night. :ok:

It is a PLEASURE to live in 250-300 sq ft of living space (think how close you will be to your wife...literally). It is also a privilege to have to pay a $120,000 usd (yes, hundred and twenty thousand) 'deposit' to get your child into a decent school. And then there is the amazing staff travel benefit, where you get to contribute to the profit of your airline when you go back to visit your family in your home country. A J class seat, round trip to LHR is about the same as monthly rent in an apartment in Nottingham, bargain! Again, it is a privilege to know you are contributing to the airlines profit (and management bonuses). An all around amazing company, with amazing management. Who WOULDN'T want to join????

Sometimes it seems like I'm watching a sitcom or cartoon.

I mean, the coyote is constantly setting minefields in his own backyard and then going out and stepping on them while chasing after something or other in the dark. All while he could simply be at home in front of a warm fire ordering some barbecue and watching his ACME TV.

It'd be more funny I guess if it weren't in real life.

Good analogy. Let's come up with some others:

Tasmanian Devil cartoon character:
- from Wikipedia : Taz is generally portrayed as a ferocious, albeit dim-witted, omnivore with a notoriously short temper and little patience.

Then there’s Elmer Fudd: ‘Shhh...be vewy quiet. We’re hunting piwots...heh heh heh heh’.

Did the policy change? I cannot say I was familiar with the old policy. Just can’t be bothered to care. As for it being a reaction to CX’s poor reputation, I’d say they are several years late.

Yet all the while they are free to publish all the utter crap they can dream up about their staff and those naughty pilots. This management team are totally ineffective abusive and incompetent. They write their own obituary.

Let’s just refer to them as “The Met Office”. An organisation that gets it wrong every day and yet still gets paid...

Is this why the screwed over Captains on the Airbus got a printed snail mail letter about out of seniority A50 junior Captains? Avoids any social media policy liability for egregious discrimination and disregard of the contractual obligation to seniority.

Remember RH and the Adelaide debacle when several graduates were persuaded to stay on (to keep the show on the road) as Instructors with no loss of CX seniority. After they'd done their bit, they joined CX but were royally screwed over by RH and his lying cronies. Welcome to Cathay boys and girls! Delayed seniority, late Commands etc etc would add up to a massive financial penalty for trying to help. Something like that anyway. Oh and some of their Dads were STC's, Fleet Management, Training Captains, Captains. Stuff 'em all!!
Nice.

I seem to recall that the mainland Chinese govt has a similar policy. I'm sure that no citizen of China manages to read outside news or post comments on social media :rolleyes:. Funny how totalitarian organisations and like-minded individuals fear the truth, and fear people discussing that truth. When almost everything they say and believe is false, it is understandable why our managers fear the truth. The management also don't seem to realise that this further attempt at intimidation is just further evidence for the 'thinking pilot' to help him/her make up their minds to leave. As if they need yet ANOTHER reason...

The funny thing is, I never posted on PPRUNE prior to this. I found the GMA letter insulting and pathetic. Gave me the impetus to sign up and throw it back in his face. They seem to think that a simple edict from their ivory tower will cause the problem to go away. They ARE the problem. Thousands of angry pilots who see the damage our management do each day, and resent the way they are being treated by that same management will be certain to make sure that the rest of the world is well aware of the truth about the epic incompetence, greed, intimidation, bullying and disrespect shown to us. Further, I can't in good conscience allow other unwitting pilots and their families to make the same mistake I did, and find themselves in a miserable situation that is damaging to mind, health, families and careers. I am waiting for a course date after interviewing back in late November (major european airline). I will be leaving as quickly as I can once received. I, and my family have sacrificed enough already. I was lied to prior to joining this company, lied to while I have been here, and now they think it appropriate to control my 'thoughts' as well. Note to AT and DP: the word is out, and most pilots around the world see this company for what it is: deceitful, dysfunctional, incompetent and doomed to eventual failure. Most of the colleagues I fly with weekly concur, and nearly all that I know are making plans to leave. And you people thing you can keep that reality out of the public eye. Delusional.

Is that the very new airbus captains, screwed over by even newer airbus captains, fed up because they are not on the 350 ahead of existing 330 Captains 3 years their senior? They have my sympathy!

Aside from the appalling fact of seniority corruption, it is fascinating to witness CX manage to mess up every single issue regarding what should be a sacrosanct aspect of our careers. What you see here is the result of lawless people operating in a lawless environment. Ultimately only chaos results (and our management sit there and blame their aircrew for the problems...:ugh:). The only solution it to join an airline where rules mean what they say, not what the "manager of the day" decides they should be.

And what better way for CX managers to sow dissension than to mess with the one thing of value in our careers, seniority. Even better, it results in pilots turning against pilots, just the sort of reaction our management relish. HP IV, I understand your upset, but the real problem is with our management, not the pilots. There is more than enough reason for EVERY group of aircrew to be angry with our management, so let's stay focused on that. The real enemy are those who are responsible for bringing down a once great company. Not the hard working employees who are responsible for it's legacy reputation (now fading away...).

Thread drift: this was about the new social media policy. Just another example of how utterly delusional our management are. They think they can stop the earth rotation. The internet provides the forum to expose the machinations of our management, and it will continue to do so. No matter what AT and DP think. The more they try to muzzle and censor, the more people will insist on pushing back and highlighting their tyrannical behaviour.

Ya....something like that was the SECOND thought I had after Wile E. Coyote stepping on his own mines popped into my head (the thought of folks trying to censor or truncate speech--especially when it's the truth--never works out very well and isn't something you want to do--and is generally a hallmark of totalitarian regimes fearing truth. Thinking people can weigh the merits of arguments presented as well as consider the source and it's a big red flag to me when someone tries to 'crack down' on this through coercive means. To me, it usually means they are losing their arguments based on the facts).

Most companies have some type of social media policy (even if not delineated); most go along the lines of if you say bad things publicly about us that aren't true (or reveal company secrets) you can get into trouble or fired (depending on your hiring situation or contract). And kinda stop there.

Fair enough. If Joe Blow posts publicly on his Facebook page while wearing his Pizza World shirt "my job sucks, Pizza World uses worms in their pizza, and my boss is a cross-dressing :mad:" -- and it's really him that said it for the world to see -- it's not a great deal different than if he said it to the press or posted bills saying the same thing. And he gets to deal with the consequences of his actions--to include getting fired.

Now, if his boss really IS a well known cross dresser and they really ARE using worms (and shouldn't be) the situation might well change.

Problem is, once you get into the weeds and try to control and define what people might say to each OTHER the rules change quite a bit. And depend on where you are at the time (which could be two different parties in two different places and jurisdictions well outside of planet Hong Kong) as well in how you obtain the information.

Say you have two pilots--both employed in Hong Kong and on a Hong Kong contract--but one is in California and one is in London and they are chatting away on some private or semi-private chat group to each other. They are saying some non-complementary things about a company and that information is later brought to light somehow and used to intimidate or discipline. Depending on how you did it you may not only have breached privacy laws in one or both jurisdictions but also be guilty of a Felony. Or your policy itself (which you THINK is legal in Hong Kong) is NOT legal in the jurisdiction where people subject to it happen to be at the time (much like traffic laws in London might not be legal in California and it's where you happen to be driving at the time which counts). Makes no difference where they are employed or where they are from--or even what they do; the 'crime' occurred in London and/or California. And the mine you set goes off as you step on it yourself.

The truth always seems to get out somehow in these days of information. A much better approach (to me) is to have a job and working environment so awesome that people are breaking down the doors to get in. People working there WANT to tell others how great their job and employer is and get quality individuals on board. Then it really doesn't matter what some folks might think or say; the situation and evidence speaks for itself. Folks there wouldn't THINK of leaving, are happy, and invite their friends to come on board (rather than having to recommend they go elsewhere). THAT'S the situation you want to be in.

Edit: The 'Are you REALLY sure you want to do this' guy (or gal) is a valuable person to have in any organization. Perhaps we are lacking in this department.

Cathay will establish the reputation they deserve amongst the pilot community. Needless to say, most of the world is well aware of the truth. CX management seem to think that merely stating a lie makes it fact. Maybe in the land of delusion they inhabit. The rest of us will make life affecting decisions based on fact, and the facts about CX say "STAY AWAY".

When I joined Cathay it was “the “ plum Aviation job to get, and unless you had someone already employed by CX prepared to vouch for you it was difficult even getting as far as an interview. The lineup of pilots applying was huge because CX had such a good reputation .
Fast forward a couple of decades and it’s sad to see what this once proud airline has become .
With social media , the internet ,and search engines , the information is out there for any prospective pilot . Housing is prohibitive, education costs an arm and a leg , the cost of living is wickedly high and the salaries are just not enough any more, to afford a standard of living that is comparable to your home base .
About the only thing that is free is the air and you can’t breath that 9 months of the year because it’s so polluted .

So yes wannabes rush to sign up , just don’t expect the contract that you sign today to be valid tomorrow. Enjoy sharing a box in Tung Chung with 3 or 4 others simply because you can’t afford to rent on your own .
We haven’t had a pay raise in so long I have forgotten when it was , but staff tickets somehow continue to go up ,and rents increase every time you renew a lease.

other than that it’s heaven on Earth we have a fabulous corporate culture , management love the aircrew and do everything they can to improve our lot in life, everyone is happy and the only people leaving are retirees . If you believe any of the last paragraph, I need to switch to the propaganda department become a manager of communications and award myself a huge Christmas bonus

Quoting from People Leader:

The second thing is to understand why
our cabin and flight crew feel the way they
do about their jobs and their relationship
with the company. We plan to build better
engagement programmes with our
frontline people. We’re already running
focus groups for about 100 crew, pilots
and customer service people to listen to
their frustrations, as well as get ideas on
where we can improve. We will then build
a list of actions with the things we want to
change or do differently. That’s a priority
for 2018. Building better engagement and
communications with cabin crew and pilots
outside the confines of the traditional
industrial relations arena has to be done
to ensure a more sustainable and trusting
relationship builds on both sides.

28% was before 13th month. No doubt after the focus groups the engagement will now soar!