There are people that joined as DEFO in 04, never left US soil and are now Freighter Captains. Yes, I know they don't make quite the same ;o)

Personally I wouldn't mind moving to HK for a couple of years though.

Early freighter commands are a thing of the past. With the introduction of COS08 all new commands have to be in seniority and only offered in HKG. Command positions on bases are only available for bid to Captains or FO's having commenced their command course.

@MilPilot Getting in CX as a DEFO would have been cool with an Australian base yeah, but if DESO is the only way in apart from cadets then i don't mind doing time in HK

Except the pollution, maybe living in HK is not as bad mate. You have Disneyland!! :ok:

Congratulation guys...nice job....:D

Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair have recorded a combined 27.5 percent surge in passengers in June from a year earlier as travel demand rises on the back of the gradual economic recovery.


The affiliated airlines carried 2.22 million travelers last month compared with 1.74 million in June last year - when air travel took a hit from the financial tsunami and the swine flu scare.


In the first half of the year, the accumulated passenger numbers were up 8.5 percent. The jump in passengers last month was the highest for the group since July 2004.


"We expect to see strong demand throughout July and August," said Tom Owen, Cathay's general manager for revenue management. But Owen said the airline is cautious on whether the solid revenue flow can be sustained toward the end of the year.


Cathay will continue to restore capacity that was cut last year due to the economic downturn, Owen said.


Cargo and mail business also picked up, with the two airlines carrying a total of 148,520 tonnes last month, or 19.9 percent more than a year ago.


Total tonnage in the first half rose by 24.4 percent.


Cathay general manager for cargo sales and marketing James Woodrow said demand was robust on one the most important routes - between Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Has anybody in the DEFO pool talked to them recently? Any news?

They said Nothing until 2012....I think he said they are getting 11 planes in 2011 but they have enough man power for those aircraft....I guess they want to run the airline very thin....it's cheaper and bigger profit...

flyinhigh - when did you talk to them and where are you wanting to be based?

it was couple of month ago....I want JFK, but I am not sure I could get it.... but at this point anywhere in NA would do....My friends keep telling me they are very short on crews and they don't undersatnd why they are not hiring...Also I have to reinterview again so you never know I might not make it this time around...I interviewed 2.5 yrs ago....:{

2.5yrs? did you say no to a base? there are people that interviewed as late as april/may 2008 and got hired.
I think that if it doesn't happen in 2011 it won't happen at all. They are getting the -8s in 2011 and they are feeding a lot of new people in at the bottom.

its not their fault....They offered me B777 based in Toronto but I didn't want to be based in Canada . I also know alot of people already working for CX who were waitting for those slots so I didn't think it would be fair for me to come and take their slots from them...Beside I always wanted JFK... they where very nice and said if I wait few month I can get JFK but than we all know what happen and everything stoped....maybe someone with better info would chime in and give us better info.....As I said this was few month's ago and things do change..

Dont do it
 

Stay as far away from this corrupt organization as possible. You will hate this place as I do now. Read all the posts in Fragrant Harbor and look up all the press in the South China Morning post newspaper as well as the continuing lawsuits filed against CX.

ok. you convinced me.

Just been looking at the Cathay Recruitment website and it keeps mentioning base ports..Can someone clarify what a base port is? I was under the impression that all cathay crew were based in HKG but something tells me they are recruiting for bases in UK/Europe...?

CX has lots of base port all over the world. Traditionally, DEFO will be joined on the freighter on a base. They will only be eligible to move to the PAX fleet after a few yrs time.

The fact is CX is actually very short on FO now. A lot of the flights are now manned with two Captains (one as relief). I suspect they are really trying to implement the three men crew ultralong haul, and they are just waiting for the implementation before they would decide how many FO they really need. There are also another 300's SO waiting to get upgraded.

The DESO scheme is scrubbed. They are replacing that with the cadet scheme.

B777 USA base?
 

Hello evryone,
Does Cathay has any B777 base in USA?
Thank you:)

yes it does but they are not hiring. I think it will be a while before they take any DEFO's, only recruitment is cadet scheme at the moment.

Thank you very much for the info:ok:

... any date for 2011 recruitment ... or I should say any hope!

2012?
 

My last correspondence with CX was no recruitment until 2012. Anyone hear any different?

sioux115 how long ago was that?

I think the 747-8 flutter is our biggest problem in getting hired in 2011 and then of course the joint venture deal.