Cathay Pacific Cadet Pilot Programme
Join Date: May 2011
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Auckland Interview
Hi all,
I've submit my application on the 30th of September. My friend told me it takes about 4-6 month to get the first interview call. So I guess we have to be patient. Good luck everyone.
BTW, is there anyone from Auckland as well?
I've submit my application on the 30th of September. My friend told me it takes about 4-6 month to get the first interview call. So I guess we have to be patient. Good luck everyone.
BTW, is there anyone from Auckland as well?
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I didn't spout out any opinions, I was merely wondering about the validity of a few rumours I have heard. The reason why people don't read this god-awful thread is that it is so littered of people bashing the scheme it would take me a year or so to find an answer to the simplest of questions. I didn't mention anything about the t&cs of the scheme or the 'morality' of the scheme on purpose because I'm sick of the pointless debate that emerges even when someone asks a simple question. ChinaBeached you are exactly the type of person who gives pprune its reputation, you seem to have made a career from pointing out the flaws of this icadet scheme. My suggestion is we should have one thread for those interested in applying and one for those who want to bash the scheme and come up with some wild predictions about pay/the state of the economy/inflation etc etc which in my opinion is borderline insanity. Yes, its not a brilliant program - far from it I expect. No, you'll never be rich. But come on lets allow people to work the financial side of things out for themselves and lets talk about more useful matters for the people who actually want to apply to CX, which is what the thread was originally intended for in my opinion.
If it's that bad then don't apply. Simple. Don't pollute the thread with garbage. Let wannabes be wannabes.
Now, I'm sure that I'll be rinsed for this post and that it has no impact on this thread, but do I really care? No, not really. But is it fair to call someone an ignorant fool for asking a question on a forum for people who are trying to find out more about pilot careers? My question wasn't exactly what is modular training, how many engines does a 737 have? Just calm down, and perhaps get out more.
Anyway, live long and prosper, hope to see you all in the sky one day.
If it's that bad then don't apply. Simple. Don't pollute the thread with garbage. Let wannabes be wannabes.
Now, I'm sure that I'll be rinsed for this post and that it has no impact on this thread, but do I really care? No, not really. But is it fair to call someone an ignorant fool for asking a question on a forum for people who are trying to find out more about pilot careers? My question wasn't exactly what is modular training, how many engines does a 737 have? Just calm down, and perhaps get out more.
Anyway, live long and prosper, hope to see you all in the sky one day.
Last edited by Paperplanes89; 7th Nov 2011 at 21:55.
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"A year" to read a massive 173 pages? Wow. Therein lies your average dedicated wannabe's "passion" to read from the source they seek the answers from.
A career on this thread? No. My career is progressing well. I didn't sell out my industry, or the pilot body I seek to join to do it. Nor even attempt to justify those actions if I did. I and many, many others with the correct and accurate information point out the flaws that you ask for by your ignorant questions. Again, you seek a rumour network to search for facts instead of the common sense to phone CX themselves.
If you don't like the truth or others' opinions then get off the internet and "rumour" chat sites. If in your opinion I pollute this thread, so be it. You'll find that hundreds of thousands of pilots worldwide believe the likes of your ignorant, selfish self pollute the industry as a whole. The likes of you contribute NOTHING positive to aviation. You only detract from it via this CEP and defence of it. We were all "wannabes" once, it's just that most did not actively attempt nor justify a downturn in standards or the industry as a whole to make our careers a successful reality.
Live long & prosper? Not on the iCadet package kid! You'll have to rely on dressing up in your trecky gear in your 400 sq ft flat for lone entertainment as you won't afford much else.
No. Most of us hope and pray we never see uneducated, ignorant, unskilled, must-have-it-all-now, naive kids hell bent on being a slur on aviation in the sky any day. Just in case I'll double check the TCAS system.... But I'll still get a laugh out of the immature dribble RT on the ramps worldwide!!!!
A career on this thread? No. My career is progressing well. I didn't sell out my industry, or the pilot body I seek to join to do it. Nor even attempt to justify those actions if I did. I and many, many others with the correct and accurate information point out the flaws that you ask for by your ignorant questions. Again, you seek a rumour network to search for facts instead of the common sense to phone CX themselves.
If it's that bad then don't apply. Simple. Don't pollute the thread with garbage. Let wannabes be wannabes.
Live long & prosper? Not on the iCadet package kid! You'll have to rely on dressing up in your trecky gear in your 400 sq ft flat for lone entertainment as you won't afford much else.
No. Most of us hope and pray we never see uneducated, ignorant, unskilled, must-have-it-all-now, naive kids hell bent on being a slur on aviation in the sky any day. Just in case I'll double check the TCAS system.... But I'll still get a laugh out of the immature dribble RT on the ramps worldwide!!!!
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thanks CB for those figures!
the likes of paperplanes89 you guys seem to have selective attention (not good for pilots btw!!) you want to hear what you want to hear and when you hear what you dont like, you complain and whinge about how the likes of CB keep bashing the scheme when simply they/we are trying to help out to let others know the FULL facts not just the rose tinted BS CX will give you. I mean 3 years to JFO? seriously... on the old terms yes.
the likes of paperplanes89 you guys seem to have selective attention (not good for pilots btw!!) you want to hear what you want to hear and when you hear what you dont like, you complain and whinge about how the likes of CB keep bashing the scheme when simply they/we are trying to help out to let others know the FULL facts not just the rose tinted BS CX will give you. I mean 3 years to JFO? seriously... on the old terms yes.
We can read, write and argue over 170+ pages of this thread but this mess can be summarized in a few paragraphs:
Experienced pilots don't want 200hr kids in the cockpit; it's bad for the standards, it's bad for safety and it's bad for everyone's conditions.
0-200hr Gen Y/Z kids don't wanna do military/GA instructing/bush flying/regional flying because they have had it so f...ing easy in the 21st century and therefore it's all perceived as too hard. Further at their young (and immature) age they don't give a **** how much they get paid since they get this "wonderful" opportunity to bypass all the "other" flying and it's more than they would get at the supermarket down the road refilling shelves whilst going to university.
Anyone disagree???
Experienced pilots don't want 200hr kids in the cockpit; it's bad for the standards, it's bad for safety and it's bad for everyone's conditions.
0-200hr Gen Y/Z kids don't wanna do military/GA instructing/bush flying/regional flying because they have had it so f...ing easy in the 21st century and therefore it's all perceived as too hard. Further at their young (and immature) age they don't give a **** how much they get paid since they get this "wonderful" opportunity to bypass all the "other" flying and it's more than they would get at the supermarket down the road refilling shelves whilst going to university.
Anyone disagree???
Last edited by AQIS Boigu; 8th Nov 2011 at 06:19.
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I think you guys need a reality check. what makes an airline pilot a profession so different from others? why do you feel you are entitled to a "lifestyle" when most fo the rest of the world isnt?!? Now, do you guys ever read the news or something?
I probably have more education than most of you and I have been working my ass off for longer than all of you have even though I make less and I find myself lucky i have a decent house (yes you can have a decent house in HK with less than HKD 10k rent a month, Ive been here for 10 years I know) and a good job (yes, a job paying less than HKD 50-60k a month is indeed a very good job) and i dont go around ranting about younger (or older, for that matter) people that manage to find better opportunities than i have and have had. Actually more often than not I end up feeling bad when i hear from friends and family back in my home country having lost their job or having to settle for far less than what i have because of the economic downturn.
And if you think that you are so speshul because you are entrusted with the lives of hundreds of ppl every time you go to work, you arent more speshul than a ground mechanic or engineer or a firefighter for that matter. A badly screwed bolt and a faulty electric circuit can crash a plane. Why should feel entitled to earn more than them!?? Be grateful for what you have folks because it's much much much more than what most people that are probably more brilliant, talented, educated and hard working but less lucky than you make. And in any case it will only get worse, if you read the news you'll know.
Reading your posts it feels like CX planes might fall off the sky any minute because of incompetent new hires. I keep looking up in the sky but I havent seen it happening so far, so the training that they are given mustn't be that horribly inadequate, after all. Oh. BTW...maybe there's a reason why they arent allowed to take off and land an airliner before they have seen how it's done for years... uhmm...
I probably have more education than most of you and I have been working my ass off for longer than all of you have even though I make less and I find myself lucky i have a decent house (yes you can have a decent house in HK with less than HKD 10k rent a month, Ive been here for 10 years I know) and a good job (yes, a job paying less than HKD 50-60k a month is indeed a very good job) and i dont go around ranting about younger (or older, for that matter) people that manage to find better opportunities than i have and have had. Actually more often than not I end up feeling bad when i hear from friends and family back in my home country having lost their job or having to settle for far less than what i have because of the economic downturn.
And if you think that you are so speshul because you are entrusted with the lives of hundreds of ppl every time you go to work, you arent more speshul than a ground mechanic or engineer or a firefighter for that matter. A badly screwed bolt and a faulty electric circuit can crash a plane. Why should feel entitled to earn more than them!?? Be grateful for what you have folks because it's much much much more than what most people that are probably more brilliant, talented, educated and hard working but less lucky than you make. And in any case it will only get worse, if you read the news you'll know.
Reading your posts it feels like CX planes might fall off the sky any minute because of incompetent new hires. I keep looking up in the sky but I havent seen it happening so far, so the training that they are given mustn't be that horribly inadequate, after all. Oh. BTW...maybe there's a reason why they arent allowed to take off and land an airliner before they have seen how it's done for years... uhmm...
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Those loose nuts and faulty circuits might well have killed a lot more people than they already have if not for the guys sitting in the pointy end.
Here is some suggested reading for you:
Qantas Flight 32
US Airways Flight 1549
United Airlines Flight 232 (my personal favourite)
Why should pilots get paid more? Because when the bolts do come loose and the circuits do fail, the ground mechanics and the engineers aren't the ones who are 10 kilometers above the ground, struggling to control several hundred tons of metal and fuel hurtling through the atmosphere at speeds approaching mach 1.
Here is some suggested reading for you:
Qantas Flight 32
US Airways Flight 1549
United Airlines Flight 232 (my personal favourite)
Why should pilots get paid more? Because when the bolts do come loose and the circuits do fail, the ground mechanics and the engineers aren't the ones who are 10 kilometers above the ground, struggling to control several hundred tons of metal and fuel hurtling through the atmosphere at speeds approaching mach 1.
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Aqis:
I partially agree. Lots of us young guys feel entitled. Not sure why but that's just this generation. Personally I don't feel that I fit into this category. If I could get a job flying in the bush I would take it, i think it would be more fun goung the GA way. The problem lies with the fact that it still costs a hell of a lot to be trained to fly in the bush.
Now you might say I am entitled because I don't want to pay for it myself. Well I would say that cost of living isn't what it used to be. I currently have a decent job, yet the amount of money I save after tax is ridiculous. Twenty to thirty years ago you could buy a home with your annual salary. Now it's more like a multiple of ten times or more of an annual salary.
I think the entitlement may come from more of a necessity than anything else.
I partially agree. Lots of us young guys feel entitled. Not sure why but that's just this generation. Personally I don't feel that I fit into this category. If I could get a job flying in the bush I would take it, i think it would be more fun goung the GA way. The problem lies with the fact that it still costs a hell of a lot to be trained to fly in the bush.
Now you might say I am entitled because I don't want to pay for it myself. Well I would say that cost of living isn't what it used to be. I currently have a decent job, yet the amount of money I save after tax is ridiculous. Twenty to thirty years ago you could buy a home with your annual salary. Now it's more like a multiple of ten times or more of an annual salary.
I think the entitlement may come from more of a necessity than anything else.
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whatever..... The sad irony is that I'll bet my month's salary that you have not researched and applied to any and every aviation study & training scholarship you may be eligible for, let alone bombarded every GA operator in the "bush" for a flying job, nor jumped in your car for a 6+ week road trip calling in to every said operator to press the flesh. Like your fellow hopeful iCadets you comment from an unjustified and deliberately ignorant point of view. "Too hard" just because you haven't damn-well even tried. Sorry, but you're like the fat lady complaining it's too hard to lose weight while scoffing down a triple cheese burger:- all "too hard".
You don't want to pay for it in the same vane you don't like rainy days. Yet so odd the 1000's upon 1000's of pilots did so and as a result did not have to sell out their colleagues and industry for a successful airline career. The hours they earned made them master of their own destiny, and not a slave to an untrustworthy and immoral corporation.
Entitlement comes from sheer arrogance, greed and laziness.
More irony is the fact that you think this CEP is a means to better save and plan for a future, despite all the overwhelming evidence to the contrary!!
A few posts back you asked for answers to your question. You received the answer yet typically ignore it because it's "too hard" so instead rely on your sense of "entitlement". So, as such, do you think you contribute to aviation or detract from it??
Thieves often steal from a sense of entitlement: he has what I want and he can afford to replace it or insurance will replace it so where's the harm? Justify it how you want, the result is still the same. "Entitlement"? What a sad and stupid joke.
You don't want to pay for it in the same vane you don't like rainy days. Yet so odd the 1000's upon 1000's of pilots did so and as a result did not have to sell out their colleagues and industry for a successful airline career. The hours they earned made them master of their own destiny, and not a slave to an untrustworthy and immoral corporation.
Entitlement comes from sheer arrogance, greed and laziness.
More irony is the fact that you think this CEP is a means to better save and plan for a future, despite all the overwhelming evidence to the contrary!!
A few posts back you asked for answers to your question. You received the answer yet typically ignore it because it's "too hard" so instead rely on your sense of "entitlement". So, as such, do you think you contribute to aviation or detract from it??
Thieves often steal from a sense of entitlement: he has what I want and he can afford to replace it or insurance will replace it so where's the harm? Justify it how you want, the result is still the same. "Entitlement"? What a sad and stupid joke.
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CB: What is more sad than ironic is that you profess to know so much about an anonymous figure on a forum, that you would bet a months salary.
I'm all for a forum being open for debate, however your comments come off as just angry and bitter. Calm down, it's not the end of days.
I'm all for a forum being open for debate, however your comments come off as just angry and bitter. Calm down, it's not the end of days.
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I'm new around here..Becoming a pilot is a fairytale dream for me.. I have no flying experience at all and I got an interview message for Stage 1 in HK. I applied months ago. So long ago I forgot about this. They told me a date for November a few weeks back, but I couldn't make it out to HK. They emailed me again today for Dec 6th. Happened to be heading for vacation to Nepal/India around that time. I've managed to reroute my mileage ticket on purposely transiting HK for 3/4 of a day to take this assessment. I've been reading up on this thread today. I'm guessing I have absolutely the slimmest chance.. but hey it won't cost me any extra money to get out there, so why not give it i shot?
What do you think? 23 year old with only airline industry experience- business side(revenue accounting stuff) and no flying experience. Do I stand a remote chance? PM me if you have any tips to prepare for the assessment. All I can do is read what's out on this forum, but if you have any tips it would be greatly appreciated
What do you think? 23 year old with only airline industry experience- business side(revenue accounting stuff) and no flying experience. Do I stand a remote chance? PM me if you have any tips to prepare for the assessment. All I can do is read what's out on this forum, but if you have any tips it would be greatly appreciated
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ChinaBeached
OK, so I waded out of this debate many pages ago. I resisted the urge for ages to not come back on and get frustrated again, but in the end, I gave in.
CB: Your figures are wrong, assumptive and misleading. I barely know where to begin, since you seem so keen to spout figures that you clearly don't actually have.
Firstly, as clearly advertised to CX employees (and anyone who applies, hence why I don't feel it's unjustified to put them here), the bands are:
SO/JFO - 10k
FO - 14k
SFO - 18k
CN1-SCN2 - 24k
SCN3-SCN6 - 30k
SCN7+ - 36k
You say 4 years as JFO when in fact JFO is more like a designation given "in transit" between SO and FO. I've never known anyone take longer than 18 months in this phase except in medical cases. In fact, I would be surprised if you (or anyone else) could name someone who has not achieved FO within 6 years of joining. Mostly, it's more like 4-5. CX simply doesn't keep SOs who can't make the grade.
Do you have any idea what it's like to live in HK? Have you ever actually spent any decent length of time here? Who are you to therefore say that $90k+ when you reach FO is "disgusting" as a package? Sure, the entry package for first year SO is quite tight ($45k a month) if you have a family, but it doesn't stay there for long.
You also seem to imply that it was a CoS08 package that gave expat housing - new joiners now are also joining on CoS08. There is only one tangible difference between what the expats were receiving then and what all new joiners are being offered now - the replacement of expat housing with the HKPA. It's still the same CoS08 that locals and expats alike joined on previously.
Likewise, I fail to see any possible logical reasoning for assuming there will be absolutely no increase to the HKPA over the course of a 42-year career, as you have assumed. My pay scales have recently been increased, so is it right to assert categorically that there will never be any increase whatsoever in the HKPA? I'm not convinced.
And 22% inflation?? Seriously?? Which planet were you living on? Show me where you picked that out from.
Once again, I come back to my core argument: it is not the expat package. It is a local package. Is it expensive to live in Hong Kong? Yes. Is it expensive to live in the UK/Australia/Canada - yes, especially when you factor in nutty tax rates. I don't see many housing allowances being offered in those places.
Above all: is it a good package? Yes. The best? No. But if it was all about the dollars, EK/QR would be the only ones who are receiving applications. It is certainly not "disgusting" or anything like it, and those who receive it may well be justifiably insulted by those kind of comments. Indeed, it is still up there with the highest paying legacy carriers around. It's just not, for experienced pilots, leading that pack any more.
For pilots with few or no hours, I'd say it's just about the best deal you will see.
People applying who compare their packages to what may have been could just as easily say "y'know, I wish I was born earlier so I could have applied when A-scales were around". Those packages are gone, and won't be back. Make the judgement not on what "might have been", but on what is offered in front of you.
/rant
CB: Your figures are wrong, assumptive and misleading. I barely know where to begin, since you seem so keen to spout figures that you clearly don't actually have.
Firstly, as clearly advertised to CX employees (and anyone who applies, hence why I don't feel it's unjustified to put them here), the bands are:
SO/JFO - 10k
FO - 14k
SFO - 18k
CN1-SCN2 - 24k
SCN3-SCN6 - 30k
SCN7+ - 36k
You say 4 years as JFO when in fact JFO is more like a designation given "in transit" between SO and FO. I've never known anyone take longer than 18 months in this phase except in medical cases. In fact, I would be surprised if you (or anyone else) could name someone who has not achieved FO within 6 years of joining. Mostly, it's more like 4-5. CX simply doesn't keep SOs who can't make the grade.
Do you have any idea what it's like to live in HK? Have you ever actually spent any decent length of time here? Who are you to therefore say that $90k+ when you reach FO is "disgusting" as a package? Sure, the entry package for first year SO is quite tight ($45k a month) if you have a family, but it doesn't stay there for long.
You also seem to imply that it was a CoS08 package that gave expat housing - new joiners now are also joining on CoS08. There is only one tangible difference between what the expats were receiving then and what all new joiners are being offered now - the replacement of expat housing with the HKPA. It's still the same CoS08 that locals and expats alike joined on previously.
Likewise, I fail to see any possible logical reasoning for assuming there will be absolutely no increase to the HKPA over the course of a 42-year career, as you have assumed. My pay scales have recently been increased, so is it right to assert categorically that there will never be any increase whatsoever in the HKPA? I'm not convinced.
And 22% inflation?? Seriously?? Which planet were you living on? Show me where you picked that out from.
Once again, I come back to my core argument: it is not the expat package. It is a local package. Is it expensive to live in Hong Kong? Yes. Is it expensive to live in the UK/Australia/Canada - yes, especially when you factor in nutty tax rates. I don't see many housing allowances being offered in those places.
Above all: is it a good package? Yes. The best? No. But if it was all about the dollars, EK/QR would be the only ones who are receiving applications. It is certainly not "disgusting" or anything like it, and those who receive it may well be justifiably insulted by those kind of comments. Indeed, it is still up there with the highest paying legacy carriers around. It's just not, for experienced pilots, leading that pack any more.
For pilots with few or no hours, I'd say it's just about the best deal you will see.
People applying who compare their packages to what may have been could just as easily say "y'know, I wish I was born earlier so I could have applied when A-scales were around". Those packages are gone, and won't be back. Make the judgement not on what "might have been", but on what is offered in front of you.
/rant