CX/FTA Instructor Secondment

[PapaGolfIndia]

I've heard rumour that CX and FTA have some new scheme coming into play where potential future CX pilots go on 'secondment' to FTA to instruct for 42 months before joining CX as JSO. Apparently a note has been sent out internally about this scheme, but there's nothing on the website about it yet. Can anyone out there give me anymore info? I have a CPL already but not much flying experience...thought this could be a good route to take rather than doing the cadet scheme. Cheers.

[EngineOut]

Basically it is aimed at Junior pilots (even without a CPL yet I believe). If you are successful, you are employed as an instructor in ADL and given a seniority number whilst you are an instructor. After 42 months you move to HK as an SO and it seems a reduced time of about 12 months as an SO before you are upgraded to JFO, as you will already have a seniority number from when you were instructing. The advantage of this is that you are employed on Direct entry SO conditions, which means you get housing etc; a big difference compared with cadets as your housing is nearly as much as your salary as an SO. You will also probably have about 2-3000hrs under your belt. Good move if you ask me, a guaranteed career before you even start! How the industry has changed!

[Oz_TB10]

When i thought the guys at FTA could not get shafted anymore this comes up??? Good luck to the guys and gals both down the road and up the road at Parafield

[skywest_xr]

Made official this week and advertised in Australia.

Open to all nationalities....including Australians, go figure.

www.flighttrainingadelaide.com

Details link from the first page of the website.

[kskc83]

Wow... this is another great opportunity and opened to all nationalities!

both CX and FTA will gain from this!

[Dub-U!]

Looks like you need to have the right to work/live in Australia though, no talk about visa sponsorship. Great program for ppl living in Australia.

What about the current/future cadets? Are they given the option of staying on as an instructor?

[404 Titan]

Dub-U!

FTA And CX will sponsor candidates for 457 visas if they need to so right to work/live in Australia isn't a requirement.

[futurexpat]

Will FTA accept someone for the program who already holds an FAA Certified Flight Instructor certificate? ( i am assuming this is equivalent to a class 3 certification) . since this program is open to all nationalities I am wondering if it is possible to apply for direct employment as a flight instrucor and complete the grade 2 and 1 certificate at FTA. Anyone know anything about those who are already instructors and want to get into the short term program and transition into CX? Any info will help. Also, any advice on certificate conversion?

futurexpat

[LionRockRSM]

That's a joke!! Stuck for 42 months at Parafield Airport.... I would suggest all of you considering to pass on that one. Or at least visit the place before you sign your lives away. Do your training privately or something, then go out and get a job flying a Navajo or a Metro. You'll get your prerequisite Cathay time way before those 42 months are up and at the end of the day you can say that you have some real experience.... Not experience that entails flying in the circuit all day or doing "IFR" flights in VFR conditions until you are blue in the face....

[NewEssO]

but the advantage of this is that you get a seniority number when you start teaching at FTA, which means at the beginning of the 42 months.

this is like a guaranteed path to cathay from scratch with benefits.

[MidgetBoy]

Wouldn't you be stuck there for more than 42 months.
Convert License
Get instructor rating
Get class 2 instructor rating
Have Cathay Pacific offer you a job.. (they might not still)
and THEN, 42 months.

[MidgetBoy]

I'm not saying it isn't worth a try. But from what I've read on these forums and learned in life is, there's no guarantees. Even if CX says they'd hire you in 42 months, they might not need you anymore. Or something could go wrong in those 42 months.
Wouldn't the license conversion + instructor rating be on our own dime too?

[futurexpat]

Im not sure what the conversion cost is , but Will FTA accept an FAA CFI for the partnership with cathay? I would be willing to convert certificates if I was accepted for employment or further training. Do CFI's who are hired get any connections with Cathay if they do not do the short term program and apply to FTA just to instruct for FTA?

[ReverseFlight]

Regarding MidgetBoy's question, my (uneducated) guess is that the instructor rating for the Short Course should be paid for by CX as is the normal case for the Long Course which includes CPL and MECIR thrown in. The short course candidate would mean much savings for CX even before start anyway. Not so sure about the licence conversion though, that's really your own problem, not theirs.

A question I have is : are these courses a one-off or are these going to be a regular feature after the deadline of 2nd March ? If so, how regular ? Anyone got any idea ?

[MidgetBoy]

But Cx hasn't yet guaranteed you a job yet until you hit class 2 where they then recheck up on you. Why would they pay an instructor rating for someone they aren't 100% sure on hiring. I can understand if they pay for cadets to fly to Adelaide for flight grading, but a whole instructor rating? They'd also have to get you your ME-IR since cadets get trained on those too. That's practically the cost of doing PPL, CPL for a person who isn't yet guaranteed a job but just passed some tests and interviews.

[crwfpo]

Good luck Chaps, but please read the Fragrant Harbour Forum first, take it with a grain of salt and then understand that fine print with CX means, "we are out to screw you when we wish". If it suits them they may employ you, if not, then you've wasted alot of time at a time when the job market in Aus is going ballastic.
CX was a great employer in a previous time, but I have never worked for any company that has treated their pilot body with such incredible disdain.
Seriously sign-up by all means, but to sell your soul to these guys before even getting in the door, good luck and with 20-20 hindsight I would certainly be doing something else.
It 'aint no dream job.

[PosClimb]

I think it's risky.

You're basically committing to be an instructor for about 4 years.

A LOT can happen in 4 years.

If it was a two year commitment, it would be good.

But why would anyone lock into 4 years when you can instruct for a year then go fly something big.... maybe not as big as a 747, but big enough.

[ReverseFlight]

Too bad the current market for Grade 3s ain't great, so I'm looking further afield.

I think you're right, MidgetBoy - maybe I misled myself when reading the title "Scholarship Program" on their website. In any case, I knew I had to do my own ME/CIR - anyone who hasn't got it won't get approval to train cadets in ME/CIR as Grade 3 or 2 - that's under the CAOs.

Even before we get there, my worry is that whether you get a Grade 3 rating in the first place is judged by FTA and them alone (advancing to Grade 2 is more a matter of numbers). If you somehow find you've been left out of the loop during the Short Course, it's probably too late to realise that you've already signed a piece of paper saying you can't pull out before completion of the course ... that's after you've already shelled out a small fortune. Besides, it's no skin off their noses if you break off and go elsewhere ... your training records can't be transferred to another school unless they consent. What a nightmare.

Nothing against FTA at all - it could happen at any school where you have to sign a piece of paper.

[MidgetBoy]

My parents are telling me to stop coming to this forum if everything I hear about Cx is making me think badly of the company, thus leading to me never having a good attitude for an interview (I still want to get in to Cx though), but this is just commonsense here. You could spend 4 years as an instructor and get in as an SO, OR, you could spend 4 years working your way up in a small charter or bush flying and logging more multi hours and possibly get a job flying some smaller jets for awhile. And then maybe in 6 years you can go DEFO.

Nothing wrong with this program if Cx can guarantee a job, but they probably can't, they might just not need you in 4 years (unlikely). And odds are you'd get promoted to Class 2 pretty fast with all the recommendations (assuming the older instructors let you claim all the recommendations).
If FTA pays decent, it doesn't hurt to get hours anyways and if Cx doesn't hire you after those 4 years for any reason, atleast you have a decent amount of ME hours. If all else fails, come to Canada and apply to work for Transport Canada. $90k CAD a year ain't bad for someone who does a few flight tests a month..

Guarantees are always good, they just rarely come unless a company is REALLY desperate.



Off topic: What's 401k?

[wowpeter]

I think it's risky.

You're basically committing to be an instructor for about 4 years.

A LOT can happen in 4 years.

If it was a two year commitment, it would be good.

But why would anyone lock into 4 years when you can instruct for a year then go fly something big.... maybe not as big as a 747, but big enough.

You get lock in for 4 years but you get expat benefits when you return to Hong Kong. I think it is rediculous especially when you already have your seniority number after maybe 1 to 2 years at Adelaide. Also with CPA and FTA paying 80% of your training, you still get expat benefit. You only pay about A30,000 to A35,000 which with expat benefits, you will get that money back within 1 year t CX. It is a rub in the face of the cadet program. Because of this, Cathay is going to get a lot of dis-satisfied local pilot for sure.