Almost half of Cathay Pilots Want to Leave
 

Perhaps it would be wise if the DFOs would stop reading the works of Chairman Mao. Or at least thinking that in any way they might apply to running an airline.

A great purge of folks you need to run the toys, without that great young talent having been developed into experienced pilots ain't gonna work. And the young talent you might get probably won't forget being stuffed in a cracker box to live when it wises up and realizes it has been cutting its own throat for the job that never will be. So you aren't getting gratitude and allegiance; simply paycheck workers using the place as a stepping stone and/or sow wild oats running around Asia. In a place with particularly costly and onerous training and regulatory requirements.

Or 50% are seeking a new job and the other 50% also hate this place but can't presently leave due to the bitch of golden handcuffs.

I think dovetailing with golden handcuffs is the fact that the airline business is pretty much universally seniority driven -- meaning that if you leave one place you dump your seniority and start all over.

Which also explains the high level of frustration (and dissatisfaction) in watching something crumble before one's eyes and not being able to do much about it other than leave (or ride things out for a bit stashing away cash before bolting). Having had no direct input into the crumblings and possibly having expected more from those charged to steer the ship.

The fact that things have become so bad that half your work force is actively looking TO jump (or stash and dash) -- despite these constraints -- would speak volumes to me if I was running the place.

To me it would also be a pretty strong warning toward those contemplating coming onboard. But perhaps youth needs to learn lessons the hard way rather than learn from others' mistakes.

The golden handcuffs are a myth. The great majority of those on Expat B have already made a stash and are ready to cash in at any time. Property prices have currently stalled and may well be on the way down. I know a Triple CN who has only had a command just over a year, he's made a load on a double unit in DB and is well into the AC application process. Wants his kids to grow up as Canadians. Many more like him. They all have a Golden Stash, not handcuffs!

You hit the nail on the head! If you could leave and take a position as a captain or whatever rank you are... Forget 3% it would be a far greater number leaving taking whatever opportunity is out there that matches their own and families lifestyle needs..... Especially since the basing debacle has forced so many to unwillingly commute to satisfy the needs without sacrificing too much in the process.

We are our own worst enemy......Yet we still keep training our cheap replacements and wonder why they keep coming after our benefits.

The older generation has a responsibility to preserve the benefits for the future generation and possibly your own kids.

The above post are all spot on.

If pilots who've made north of 1.5 million USD off housing and p fund over the last decade or two are itching to get out, and are indeed leaving, how on earth do you think the youngsters will tolerate the dire living conditions and Ts and Cs in HKG?

The argument that the pay is at or above industry standard in HKG is complete :mad: when you take cost of living/disposable income into account.

Many would easily have a better quality of life, and even more disposable income on half the salary their on in HKG if they went back to Europe or Oz.

Always said it - Housing in HKG and lack of Basings will be the downfall of CX. Tick tock, tick tock……….

Seems our senior management are blissfully unaware of the fact that literally hundreds of their pilots are making plans to leave this airline. I'm not going to bother laying out the facts behind that statement. Simply going on record as acknowledging the facts of what is being said (and actioned) on a daily basis. That process can only be advanced when our DFO puts out newsletters with the content of last weeks missive. Keep up the good work, our competitors need you (3%...yes, you stick to that fiction...laughable).