Dear GH & CK
 

A polite ‘riposte’ to your recent public comments..

“It would also be an incorrect statement for me to say that COS18 is not one of the reasons”. Actually, it isn't the only reason but it is the main one. With appropriate remuneration, a significant number of your Pilot’s would have remained.

“Deeply regretful of the turnover rates..”

With circa 90 resignations in the last two months alone and hundreds more to come by the end of the year, I find it surprising that, despite having limited training capacity, your sole focus appears to be on recruitment with seemingly no attention paid to retention.

A CN1, FO1 and SO1 are decidedly cheaper than a CN4, FO2 and SO2 but without a valid licence all are of limited use.

(Note for pilots; it will take approximately 12-14 years to move from CN1 to CN4; 24-28 years from your joining date..)

I do hope your Training Plans are conservative given many Senior staff will be leaving at the end of the year. In fact, it is likely you could have as little as 2000 pilots overall, given the current constraints and the closure of the US Base at the end of August.

The first of your direct entry candidates will realistically not become available until late 22/early 23 and none of your recent Cadets will be available until late 2023.
I understand 300 Cadets/yr initially. Your turnover rate will likely match that number.

Remember, many of your currently employed Cadets have passports from other countries too.

So, Direct Entry pilots will be needed.

“It’s a competitive package for Hong Kong Pilots….” Other than a small handful, you will not be hiring from Hong Kong, so in turn, you will need to be globally competitive particularly against the US market.

As a place to live, Hong Kong is no longer as desirable as it once was, particularly for families.

At least 50% (conservative) of your current pilot workforce are on a hold file with rival airlines or are actively applying elsewhere.

“COS 18 has been adjusted a number of times to increase certain allowances and benefits along the way” “Our desire is to ensure that COS18 remains competitive..” Actually you’ve adjusted it many times. Only once, however, did it benefit your pilot workforce. The tiny ‘improvements’ were met with universal derision.

With a strong balance sheet (compliments are due here, this truly is remarkable), the last of the basings closed and your cost base at historically low levels, one can only surmise what your next step might be..

Respectfully

Zig Zag

Either of you are most welcome to reply here.

With some Second Officers approaching seven years of service, it's nothing short of disgusting that CX is actively seeking external direct entry First Officers.
This is a good indicator of how much the company care for staff and their families.

With the amount of local second officers reaching 4-5 years of service, I wonder why the HKAOA is not actively looking to use that as a reason to block non-hk resident DEFOs from obtaining visas. The dragon guys got the immigration department to make sure they were hired before any more visas were renewed, its possible the same can be done for upgrades? Its to every rank's benefit if DEFOs are blocked. Without DEFOs everyone is harder to replace.

that is a great point/ idea

great idea but the trouble is all the SOs quit the union after 7 years of being let down again and again and again. but if anyone is left in it then they should try this.
Without DEFO the company recruitment plans and thus chance of growing are in ruins

Totally agree. Even if no SOs are left in the AOA, this is something the AOA should take up with immigration. The company has created the pilot shortage. Every direct entry pilot takes a promotion from an existing employee - regardless of the BS spin from the company.

Regardless of what the AOA does, this is something which should be brought to the attention of immigration.

‘COS18 remains competitive for HK,’ is absolute nonsense.

COS18 will only ever be remotely competitive if the airline is flying a full schedule and pilots can earn productivity pay, which is absolutely not the case right now or at any time in the near future.

Large productivity pay is an pre-condition to the success of COS18.

So any DEFO or other recruit who is promised this competitive contract needs to realise that he or she must first spend a couple of years helping the airline rebuild towards a full schedule before cashing in any form of decent salary.

That’s not a great pitch for recruiting pilots.

You guys must be new here. You want the AOA to do something? What have they done for the past three years? They can't even issue a press release to counter the BS posted in the papers about the evil covid carrying pilots and the huge pay raises we are receiving. The AOA is a lame duck, don't rely on them for anything.

To say the contract is not competitive while at the same time not leaving is contradictory.

Amazing Cathay has any flight crew really.

good luck, you’ll need it.

This month I’ve dedicated 84 hours to the company, with only 36 of those hours recognised (block) - so based after doing the maths, I’m getting $700hkd per hour! And that’s not including the OTE or the test and hold or the copious amount of paperwork required just to leave and come back

The HKAOA is largely ineffective as the General Committee is controlled by a handful of egotistical individuals who are on personal vendettas.

That doesn’t mean we are ineffective industrially. The DPA didn’t contact the Immigration Department. They’d been dissolved by then. It was motivated and honourable individuals who wrote compelling letters to the Director of Immigration who influenced management’s recruiting strategy. Dozens of letters were written.

If you’re waiting for the GC to solve your perceived problems (and your problems aren’t their problems) then stick to having a whine on anonymous forums.

For those of you who chose to remain, please understand that the company acknowledges they have a staffing problem, yet they continue to allow and encourage the GMA side of the business to let clerks treat pilots like something they’ve scrapped off the bottom of their shoe.

Perhaps it’s worth considering that if they are going to continue to treat pilots this way in the midst of a crewing crisis, then they are unlikely to ever improve. IE, if not now, when ?

So if you’re staying there hoping that they’ll mend their ways because they’ll be left with no choice, you’re gravely mistaken.

There are only 2 choices; stay and accept they’re incompetent bafoons who treat you like **** and will do forever, or leave, cut the umbilical cord, free yourself of the toxicity, and watch from the lifeboat as they steam full speed into the iceberg. Simple.

Simple
 

WHAT RON SAYS ‼️‼️

how responsive is the HKAOA to emails? instead of waiting for them to do something would asking them to do it make any difference?

With WW3 looking more and more like a possibility, recruitment and retention will soon be the least of CXit’s problems :bored:

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/27/russ...ss-forces.html

https://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-s...061041544.html

Fat Boy Kim is like the kid who tries to be the cool kid in the corner of a classroom, doing all sorts of stuff to attract attention. But everyone's focus is actually on the big bully sitting next to him, wondering when that Big Bully is going to beat the crap outta the little guy sitting just on the other side.

From memory, the fat kid in the corner of my classroom didn’t have a nascent nuclear weapons programme under way, nor had he had one, have been just deranged enough to use it.

There's only been one nation deranged enough to use these things on civilians.

Just thinking you might have left out a bit more info on this ..? Eg

Ended WW2
Saved in the long run many more than were killed
Defeated an abhorrent murderous empire

factored in…. The word “deranged” might apply to those who would advise against its use.