Americans at CX
 

I’ve heard that the pilot group is hostile towards the American pilots that work there, any truth to this? How do the Americans working there survive?

Dude, relax and enjoy your C172 rating. We “survive” just fine. Good luck if you’re another of the entitled generation.

Troll alert.
But if you're serious, don't believe everything you hear.
Sure they have some more relaxed views on some procedural things like r/t, and often wear their baseball cap for restaurants which by most is considered slightly bad manners, but in general are pleasant and competent.
They don't mix much with others in hk, and the old adage that "you can always tell an American, you just can't tell him much!" I would say is only true of the tourist types that we meet around the traps, and not the American cx pilots.
One of my closest friends is an American, great guy and a very professional aviator.
You might have just picked up on some stories from the early Americans, who found it hard to adapt to what they perceived to be rigid and anally retentive training procedures, but were just the relatively high standards that we were all used to in Aust, NZ and UK.
So don't believe all you hear.
Once they ditch the hats at breakfast, and learn to use correct r/t, they'll be just fine.

lol......'correct' R/T depends on where you're from and the sandbox you're playing in. Or in which you're playing for the more pedantic. If it consistently works it's correct.

Everyone gets along just fine. If you're a peckerwood you'll be appropriately treated as such no matter where you're from. What comes back at you depends on what you put out which is a person not a geographic thing.

Probably the most important thing to remember about Americans is you'll find some of them to be of the older breed who really fight back (and don't just whinge about their lot although some of them do just that). Everyone has their quarks.

Not hostile, just bemused why Americans would be at CX when Delta/ Fedex/ AA etc all offer so much more

as an American who spent 10 years at CX and managed to escape I can tell you that all the above is true. You will be treated great by fellow pilots unless you deserve different.

but I’d avoid CX if I were you

This statement is correct.

high standards? Certainly. But there is no need for being anal! Two completely different things as many other nationalities prove...

Very true SaulGoodman.
Whilst the anal specialists have over the years become fewer in number, and I would opine less intense, there are always those few individuals who wish to exercise their new found power, by displaying their knowledge of unimportant and irrelevant minutiae and pushing their pet likes as suggested policy.
On receipt of such gems, most Brits Kiwis and Aussies have historically been past masters at playing that "I must make a note of that!" game whilst muttering "dickhe@d!" under their breath, whereas Americans are more inclined to just simply call "that's bullsh@t or horsecr@p!", as they are less inclined to put up with such idiots.
But Americans are generally still good fun to fly with.

My guess would that at the time the Americans made their choice (maybe 25-30 years ago) the relative situation looked quite different (A scale appears to have been an outstanding package, B scale not bad).

Because of the beloved seniority system you only get to make that choice once in your career unless you're prepared to take quite a financial hit in the short term by changing later.

(But I speculate just as an interested/amused outsider)

Because it's a lot more complicated than just picking up and changing because some US carriers are hiring. If only it were that simple. :)

As a long-term American pilot at CX.....this.

Until you walk a mile in another man's shoes....

People have all kinds of reasons for the choices they make. With well over two decades now at CX, I could read a statement like the above and know this individual would never make it here. You come (and stay) because the people are more interesting, you see far different parts of the world, you enjoy flying into SYD or LHR a lot more than Des Moines, the pay with all of the benefits has over an extended period been FAR better than my US flying friends.

At the end of the day, I am here and have been because I would rather walk into a cockpit and spend the next 10-16 hours with someone from Australia or France or the Middle East or South America than with someone from Ohio or Kansas. Far more challenging and interesting.

So you mean it attracts the west coast hippy Americans

It’s incredible to see how many CX guys have their heads buried in the sand.

Keep deluding and trying to convince yourself of your decision to stay in HK and Cathay...

The mid to late 90s in the US the Majors were hiring anyone with a pulse. If you couldn’t get on then and were forced to go to CX... well... Let’s just say it might be hard to spend 15 hrs in the flight deck with you.

Until you’ve actually seen how much better EVERYTHING is back at the USA and at the US carriers I’d just keep quiet as you come across as so incredibly naive. Everything in HK is just a massive compromise.

Like a frog in boiling water.

Things haven’t always been rosey in the US of A have they......just ask all the Airline Pilots that lost their 401 K’s, ask the Continental, Pan Am, Braniff Pilots how they feel.

The good ol ain’t necessarily the be all and end all....

It’s not possible for a US national to lose a 401K over a parent company bankruptcy because this is the individuals’ money in what is usually a matched account. The money is fenced just like an individual bank account. The worst that can happen is that future or matching contributions by a company might be restructured with the individual free to continue to contribute his portion.

Now to be sure there are many other pension schemes which CAN and have been lost over bankruptcy. But none of these have been a 401K style account. And this is a major consideration when choosing a career — exactly where does the money go to and who holds it and how is it funded. If it’s you — like in a 401k style setup — this is probably more reliable than other options of guaranteed distributions.

I think the major part of any of this equation is are you happy in what you are doing. If you feel miserable going to work or the average gate agent is much happier than you — and this isn’t a temporary rut — it’s probably time for a change.

Yes, and laid every single one of them off in 2001/02 or later in bankruptcies. If you were hired by a US major after 1996, you are almost certainly laid off at some point 2001-2006. No question, a lot of the people hired in the US pre-1996 and after 2005 have done very well financially since 2010. That's a short period of time compared to someone who went to work in the early 1990's and made Asian compensation - including housing allowances - for the last 20-30 years.

That's not as relevant as this: No one is wrong in any way to prefer working in the US or for a US-carrier, just as the people who work for QF, BA, EK, KE, etc. and really like it are making the right choice for themselves. It's just absurd to state that someone is "wrong" for decisions they are very happy with.

Considering all the really serious issues we are dealing with at the moment, the top thread on the Fragrant Harbour site is about "Americans" ? What on earth is wrong with all of you? I suspect this thread was resurrected to distract from the really important issues of the moment. Get back to things that matter.

Didn't mean to offend. Haven't looked at Pprune in a long time and happened to log on to look for something, saw a topic I felt I actually did have something to contribute to and replied. No offense intended.