HK Express
 

Hi Guys,

Just after info on HK express.

I have heard mixed reports and just seeking clarification what they are like to work for, base pay, allowances etc. Can you make ends meet in HK?

I know they are owned by the mob as HK Airlines, do they treat their crew the same way?

Thanks!

I've done a little looking through other threads..

There is ad's now on AFAP in Australia..

It would be nice to get a current synopsis from anyone who has just started or is in the process of moving there.??

Many Thanks FB..

extract from May 2009 ..
" Hong Kong Airlines/hong Kong Express
Sister companies, but salary the same.

You think you guys are hard done by, try living in one of the most expensive cities in the world and earning this.
Salary figures can be confirmed on PPJN.

737-800 Captain basic Salary = 30000 HKD per month (3867 USD)
737-800 F/O basic salary = 17500 HKD per month (2255 USD)
Those figures are before tax.

No increase in pay each year. A 20 year pilot will earn the same as a 1st year pilot.

No pension, no gratuity. Only 1,500 HKD (193 USD)will be contributed into your provident fund (MPF) per month, after the first 13 months service in the company.

Annual leave = 28 days per annum. No credit given or extra annual leave given for working public holidays. No extra pay for working public holiday.

No flights home to home country.

Roster still unstable, even after 4 years they can not get it right.

No housing allowance.

They have flight pay but with no minimum guarantee. You really could earn Base salary, and not much more.

No communication. You do not realize your getting a pay cut until your paycheck comes through or not. They do not even send an email to explain their plans.

Labour law in Hong Kong supports the company not the employee. Employee has no rights.

You disagree with changes to contract = employment terminated with no reason.

Bonded for 15,000 USD - 50,000 USD even if your type rated with experience on type. Bond period 1-5 years

Good things about these companies...... NIL

If your considering working here, apply for ANY OTHER AIRLINE IN THE WORLD, or jump off a building. Both are better options."

As usual , there is a rather long line of pilots from down under, waiting with baited breath, to jump onto the HKE gravy train.

One thing I would certainly NOT describe either HKE or HKA as, is a gravy train.

Train wreck would be more suitable.

For anyone thinking of going there have a read of "the demise of hong kong airlines" thread in the fragrant harbour section. They might be different company's in name but they share the same @rseholes in management. And also try not to be ao naive to think that it won't happen to you.

Ive spoken to guys who formerly worked with both HKE and HKA. They indicated that the two were very different animals and that Hong Kong Airlines was far inferior to Hong Kong Express.
This was a couple of years ago but I am curious if anyone is willing to back that information up or am I totaly misled and there is basically no difference between the two? I understand that they have an affiliation and a common investor but it seems they have completely seperate operations departments.
What are the real differences?

Met friends that already left HKA/HKE most things true, shall improve :cool:

HKE was WAY better than HKA back in the day. It was progressive, they upgraded FOs, and had better destinations.
HOWEVER, the same sh*t Hainan mgmt is now in charge and things are not the same.

Stay away from BOTH.

Maybe, but both have the same **** money and conditions.
HKA at one stage had 7 x 737 vs HKE had 3 ( I think ), now its the opposite, but HKA ad you said never had upgrade programme.

You will not save a penny as a Captain here ( unless you single, live in TC, and don't go out ) as an effo you will struggle to survive unless you share accomodation. If you bring a family up here under their conditions, you will probably leave this place single.
Don't make the mistakes I did :

1) Do not believe anything they tell you over the phone, and believe half of what you see in the contract ( you are not home, forget about unions, workplace ombudsmen, and employers that don't lie to your face, excluding GA of course )

2) Do not do conversion into Oz dollars ( if u from Oz ) and justify ( especially as a captain ) that with the low tax the money is better than LCC back home. If you want a half decent place in Central, DB or Saikung it will cost you 3500-4000AUD/month ( 25-30K HKD/month ), double that of most capital cities in Oz. Don't come up here for the interview, go out for curry and a beer with your mates and kid yourself that its cheap to live here.

You have been warned :=

Yes they will hire without a rating. If your lucky they will send you for the type rating before you have signed a contract.
A free type rating, when finished you can apply to a real airline.
HKE is a flying school run by amateurs.

Yes they will. For those who join the company without the type rating there is a 3 year US$30000 bond.

:eek:US $30000!!! wats their pay?

In the not too distant future they will probably take someone without a pilots licence ( in fact, I'm sure HKA already have ), once things pick up again they will struggle to get anyone :E

How many crew are HKE after approx numbers F/O and Capts any assistance much appreciated.

Confirmation of Salary
 

737-800 Captain basic Salary = 30000 HKD per month (3867 USD)
737-800 F/O basic salary = 17500 HKD per month (2255 USD)


Is this accurate for HK Express, can someone from inside the airline confirm this. Surely there must be hefty allowances on top of this. How can anyone survive on that?

The wages quoted are NOT accurate,


The basic wage is more than double that.
Over time starts at 0 hours and adds around another 30 to 35% to your final pay.

Dont believe everything you read...........



XOP's..... The Only Way To Operate.......

Thanks EXXMAN

So from my rough calculations with OT, the figure is closer to 546,000.00 HKD = 70,350.98 USD per year.

Cheers

OT?

There is no overtime.

and the salary is no where near that.
If you c8nts believe what HKA/E is telling you
and don't believe the 20-30 guys who are posting their ACTUAL experiences (ALL WHO NOW FLY FOR BETTER AIRLINES), then you deserve it.

Hey MT,

Why dont you go back to the HKA thread were you will be much happier.
This is a thread about HKE, a place that you never worked.......


The information I have posted IS correct, it comes from someone who ACTUALLY works for the company.

Get over it and move on buddy................


XOP's....... The Only Way To Operate.......

Allingoodtime, just for your info KA/CX pay is around 2.5 times that ( the 546,000 u calculated ), and remember other than cheap beer, this place is bloody expensive.
And something that can't be denied is that pay is subject to change without notice, also subject to leave without pay with no notice too ( happened last year, will happen the next time they are struggling for cash )

Good thread going here - although I'd say it could do with a bit more insider knowledge and a little less hearsay, wouldn't you agree?

Anyone going for interviews this month or next? I got a call today but am yet to make up my mind.. :confused:

Raropilot, ask yourself the soul searching question whether you will be happier there compared to inter-island Emb110s ? I understand you love your present job, which can't be said of most pilot jobs.

Hmmm Inter-island bandits were bloody good fun and loved (almost) every minute of it. However I have long since left that job and now fly a Dash 8 300 around NZ... Tossing up whether to wait ages for a command in the dash and possibly miss out on a great opportunity overseas. Loving the dash job too... DILEMMA! :confused:

act in haste, repent at leisure ?
 

Sounds like you should re read the threads on HKE/HKA and take the advice of the pilots who have worked there and have tried to put the bad experience behind them. If you are a sucker for punishment, go on up, you're the type of pilot they(HKE) want. That inter island gig in the bandit will start to look real good. I dare say , so will the dash.
Your resignation from your current job will take 5 mins to write, however you will have considerably more time than that to regret it.
"Been there, done that, got the T-Shirt" :\.

From you guys that are there or have been there, what is so bad about HKE. Surey living in HK and flying out of HKIA must be pretty good gig.

Regarding DEC positions. I meet the requirements. But would they really stick a guy that has no time on type in the left seat? I have 4400TT, 900 jet, 370 heavy jet f/o and 530 command on light glass cockpit jet. Anyone get a DEC slot with that kind of time?

Fraction of the truth.
 

:ugh:Yeah you wont be having so much fun when u dont even have much money to rent a place or go out. U could live in the best city in the world, but if u dont have money to do things...then u're no better than living in the worst place of the world.

Let me tell u what Chinese management is like (not HKA here but still)....today i just find out 6 of our 20 days of annual leave was deducted without any discussion because HR decided since we didn't fly for 6 days during the Chinese new years (company was not operational during that time), we should consider that was part of our annual leave plus they simply think we have too many holiday..cause they only get 12.

Plus my workmate just got his salary deducted 2 months in a row, (no one total him anything about it)...a total of 23,000 HKD for violation of company rules. Great news for this single dad who has just got divorced partly due to the company crappy week scheduling (work like tues, thurs, sat, standby on days off, and compulsory [plenalise if not attend] company meeting on Mon. So he cant manage to go home to Macau (1 hr ferry from base) and see his wife and kid. He was also literally told by the company...in his face that "your time management is not our problem," when he was trying to see if he could work 3-4 days in a row since the scheduling is done manually (so he could go home for approximately 48 hrs per week) because he was having problems in his marriage for not spending enough time at home. (We only come to this company because it is closer to our home alright? Trying to stay human here is the hardest thing...because im thinking we are turning into dogs...that doesn't bark, even when getting whip on the head.)

This is only 1 fraction of what being a pilot is like under Chinese management. :D

EPASZ, if it is really that bad then they will have lots of crew looking elsewhere when things pick up.

There's no doubt morale is dropping and it was low before! There are problems everywhere you look these days, whether it's day to day operating issues, booking leave, getting back expenses, attending recurrent training in Hainan, bad hotels on the now large number of stopovers or crazy rostering.

So yes, I hear lots of talk about guys leaving - the Training Manager has resigned already.

As for anyone thinking of joining, think again. At interview you'll meet managemnet pilots but they have no power. The track record of the real management tells you that they will cut your T&Cs at the first opportunity and under HK Law there is little protection for employees. That's one reason why there are so many angry posts on "The Demise of Hong Kong Airlines". HKE/HKA management (they are the same people) cannot be trusted period.

HKA interview
 

which type of simulator are they HKA using for sim evaluation during an interview day (2010 interview) It was B737-300 in 2006. How about 2010 this year.

let me ask u guys some Q's

would u depart with one a/c pack u/s?
ever tried an airline not flying their overflys?
ever tried flying back home w/o tcas?
ever tried flying an airline that runs incorrect slot time?
ever tried dumping pax into hkd when they bought tickets to cts?
these are only some of the things that occur
ever tried grounded outport due to over debt bill?
c/c got kicked out og hgh hotel once, y, didnt pay their bills

tks hka, hke nows sucks as much as u do....

that sure doesn't sound too good...but are they improving at all??:(

of coz it improving, RL just got terminated, and several TC pilots from HKA has also resigned. HKA is always getter better...........

haha...that's good to know, at least there are signs of light shinning thru this black hole.....if you know what i mean:8

hahah far from over, with madamn wu still in here and those bunch of china management, one sings go and one sings come back in

ANY NEW UPDATES
 

It's almost a year, so any updates.......

Has anybody gone through a HKE interview lately? Are they even hiring or just HKA?

Hiring Spree HKE/HKA
 

We are hiring pilots who can accept any conditions. We have lost over 100% of our pilots the last five years. Living in the most exciting and expensive city in the world and able to take pay cuts in short notice or sack immediately. Pay raise on the way with maximum job security to bond you for the rest of your life. Dont believe the rumours or anyone who has been here. Join us to see it yourself. We are the fastest growing airline in asia with tens of millions - in debt. IPO pending this or next year.

I have it on good authority that 315 pilots have come and gone there at HKE. There are now 60 pilots employed at any one time. I think you will find that figure is much higher than 100%. My figure is 425% turnover. Perhaps some mathamatics expert can correct me on that.

I bet there is not an airline in the world that can match those figures. And really that says it all about a company. The management just sit back and let it happen.

Just say no to their well below average salary in this job market.

Anyone know if there is chance for a low houred
JAA type rated B737 pilot? Tried to contact them however no reply so far.
Any suggestions?
Thanks

Reply 1: "This airline treats pilots like shyte! Worse than dogs!"

Next response on Pprune: "Okay, where can I send them a resume."