Well to be honest, I didn't have the money to go to ER. :( I did however get several scholarships which saw me through a portion of my time there. The rest was paid for by friends and friends of friends. So neither I nor my family had the money to put me through ER.

No i haven't thought it through. Just sounded like a great idea at the time. I wanted to do something different than live in an apartment and have to pay rent and utilities etc etc boring same stuff. Time for something new, a new experience. My first idea was to (now hear me out before you say "what" like Lil Jon) live in a tye dye microbus. :} The boat idea was merely an extension of the same train of thought. I thought of that in the states when i was at ER. I could BARELY afford rent there and didn't know how to drive so that plan was out. BUT! If i were to do it all over again, I would learn how to drive and then live in a tye dye microbus...its not THAT off the wall kinda of an idea. Imagine how much you could save! The hippie in me loved this idea. If CX won't give SO Cadets a housing package, who says I have to live in a house?! Again, it just sounded like a good idea and i'm not sure its wise.

Come on. One of you out there has to have thought about doing something like this!

Lots of guys at CX live on boats but it is not really a cheaper option. You get more space for the money but have a boat to upkeep. You would not be allowed to live in a camper in HKG, water? Sewage? Elec? Again don't think you have thought it through or researched it.

Your Indian and got several scholarships to go to ER for a flying course. That is a good effort, I have a friend who is just starting to look for the way forward into a career in aviation. Could you give me the details of these scholarships so I can pass the info onto him and he can try to get some financial support.

Thanks.

Hmmm I will see what I can do about the scholarships. It worked differently for me because I applied through the university. It was one general app that went out to all the donors of the school, who then chose who they would award it to. I know i have a consolidated word doc with all the scholarships I looked at somewhere. How will i get it to you? I don't see an attach option here. Perhaps you could give me your email address.

Oh AND...Multimedia | The Essentials of Living Aboard a Boat | Living Aboard.net. One of the better sites I found. Very informative. Discovery Bay has a really nice marina, its the closest one I found to the airport. And if it works out to be more expensive that a flat (which i haven't looked into at all) then its back to the drawing board :)

KO,

In case this isn't a wind up and you really were thinking about living on a boat....

In HK, only the wealthiest people can afford to live on boats. It isn't something one does in order to "save money"

Please don't say anything like that in your interview....

Not a wind up. I'm just trying to come up with a never done before novel idea. Sigh. So is there no really really cheap way of living in HK then eh? Unless you have a very rich friend who'll pay for everything. Hmm. Btw, I haven't heard nix back from the CX HR folks who I wrote to last week. Any of you out there asked about the nitty gritty details about the SO package...benefits and pay? Lemme know.

Have no fear. I will not say anything like this or other outlandish thing during my interview.

Praying in the Plane
 

It's about seeing the Business class pax to see a pilot praying in the plane so what??? And why it comes to muslim and people start talking about their prayers???


It's not that muslim pilots leave the cockpit and start praying as soon as prayers time is on! First of all prayers dont take hours just 5 minutes, and even if the pilot leaves for the 5 minutes it wont crash the plane, when the other pilot is sitting in the cockpit!! and First officers and Captain leave the cockpit to go to the Toilet, dont they?? Or they should sit in the cockpit and **** inside it? is thats what you are referring to??? No pilot is thats insane to put life of so many pax just to leave the cockpit unless it is safe to do so.

And no muslims dont need to find anyother profession as they many muslim airlines are flying safely around the world with best safety records.

Perhaps you people can talk something more substantial.

Like English?

Dude...chill out. We're trying to help. You asked for an opinion and you got it. No need to get upset.

To be very honest, it would look weird if a pilot from any another faith left the cockpit to pray. Passengers should not have to see that. As a pilot, especially in these days of global paranoia, you gotta be damn careful how you act in front of your passengers. You have to be extremely professional. I'm not telling you not to pray, I'm telling you that it would be completely inappropriate to do in public; so stay in the cockpit if you can, or go to the crew quarters and pray there. You have to also take the culture of the country into account. Doing this in the USA would be difficult, no explanation needed there. If you were to do this while flying for Etihad or Qatar, not as big a deal, merely because its seen as normal and thus is accepted.

I'm sure that if praying was a major safety issue, which i personally don't think it is, then there would be strict rules about it (I haven't found any). You're right, the same rules apply when one pilot leaves the cockpit to go to the bathroom.

Basically, whatever you leave the cockpit to do, don't do it in front of your passengers, they may not like it, and its not professional.

Happy Landings :ok:

The thing is, you can pray later. Lightning will not strike you down if you miss a prayer or two. In fact, nothing will happen, ever. Go to the toilet and pray. As you are only allowed to leave the flight deck for physiological reasons, who'll know???

I'm not sure that crew praying in the first class cabin would go down too well with most pax, particularly outside of Muslim majority countries. The pax are paying us substantial money to perform a specific task. How about a Buddhist waiter meditating next to the table he is serving at the Savoy? at the end of the day, we are being paid to perform the role and project the image required by the employer, flight and cabin crew alike. It is not religious intolerance, it is business.

There are many pilots who pray while taking rest and No they dont have to pray in the toilet! no one can force anyone to pray in the toilet. Sure lightning wont strike, if a prayer is missed. I dont know what type of culture is there in CX. I am sure any pilot who wants to pray would himself make sure to pray out of Pax sight.

The only problem I have is why if CX is going to Pakistan, and suddenly someone mentioned how a pax would react seeing a pilot praying in the business class. It only shows lack of tolerance. I am not going further into this discussion, You guys carry on with your routine discussions.

Hahaha, this has to all be a wind up? Two trolls at once, if not, makes for a good giggle.

Nice Post & Story Eternity. :ok:

A two troll tango

@Paultheparaglider
Thanks for the response.
When I was there though the tv always said Tung Chung had the lowest pollution levels. It may have been the season I was there during, however, it's irrelevant now.
I've changed career paths long ago. I'm just here watching dreams of expats die.
Working for CX is great if you can live with your parents or if you already own property there... that's about it.
It seems like any new hires for CX that aren't complaining about the low pay are people who are doing it for show. People who have rich parents who wanted their kids to do something. Relatively smart people who want to bang more chicks. People who enjoy traveling but don't realize flying for airlines isn't the same... essentially people who go to university to get a degree for the sake of getting a degree; they're people who get into CX to impress their parents enough to have a decent share in the inheritance.

WOW! You have issues!

No desperate situations, only desperate people . . .
 

Will it be another idle day of deferred dreams? :zzz:

Ok...a bit off the topic... i was walking through HKIA.. bored as usually..surping my coffee and being a nusiance... I noticed on two separation occasion, young chinese(locals) pilots supporting mohawk haircuts.. well it was a slightly over grown mohawk...i thought it was the last of the mohicans, chinese version... hahaha.. I thought there is a dress code... ok aleast a clean shirt, shower and shave..but the hair didnt look professional... in any case... i was going to give the kid an extra few HK$ so he can go back to the salon and finish his hair cut. but i thought he was going to scalp me.

ok back to prevering and you lot can go back to argueing about CX... :ok:

"young chinese(locals) pilots supporting mohawk haircuts.."

I'm afraid you are mistaken..... These days cadet pilots are so poor that they get their hair cut in installments! :eek:

lucky for these cadets.. that a crotch wax is not needed.. wax/shaving half is not CX standard.. or is it... hmmmm.. there goes your landing strip. more like a bush landing... hahaha

So, one is able to dig up statistics which support that Tung Chung isn't the most polluted part of Hong Kong...

...consider that paultheparaglider might be saying that of all the places expats might reasonably consider living, it is most definitely one of the most polluted parts of Hong Kong. The reason we know this - is that we have to drive/ train/ bus past the place every time we go to work - and it's definitely up there (ITO pollution).

Otherwise, there's nothing wrong with the place from what I can tell, and quite a few of my friends have opted to live there. But it regularly suffers very bad pollution. That's a fact.

I haven't checked what residential places regularly suffer worse pollutiuon than Tung Chung, But I'm guessing is places like Mei Foo, Mong Kok etc. If you want to compare Tung Chung to places like that, then you might want to check them out first.

Hedley Environmental Index

Regardless of what you think you see driving to work these measurements show daily that Tung Chung is NOT one of the more polluted places to live. Check it out occasionally and you will see that the city locations are the worst, understandably, followed by the rest, of which Tung Chung is one of the best places in HKG with regards to the pollution.

These are not statistics they are real time readings of pollutants in the atmosphere at the locations mentioned.

No boundaries ? More like no brain cells, a terrific reason to not fly CX in 20 years when he might have a command.

Advice?
 

Hi

I agree with what you are saying but i must also say i could not find a better offer than this atleast for now as i am a low time pilot.

My question is do you think that there is still an airline out there that will give you the cathay dream? In other words do you think it is cathay that is going down hill in terms of being a pilot or the whole airline industry?

Regards

HK Life,

(hopefully you're not like airgent and others who will take this advice as a personal attack)

Instead of looking for the quick now-now-now path into a big shiny jet that will see you head down an unhappy and low paying career (if you can call it a career) with almost no way of saving for your retirement, why not go out there and get a job suitable for a low hour pilot. Then you can become a higher hour pilot and apply for suitable jobs, then become an even higher hour (and experienced) pilot and apply for a reasonably good package at a reasonably good airline (that doesn't treat their employees like CX does).

Trust me, you'll have many enjoyable and worthwhile experiences along the way, especially if you get into single pilot IFR in strange places doing even stranger tasks.

Whinge
 

Can't say I have ever come across a bigger bunch of whiners about Cathay and living in HK!

I am an Aussie and live in HK. Yes it has its challenges and is expensive and has bad schools and all the rest of it. But I am still here because on balance I would rather live here than anywhere else. Someone here said said if you can't get more money then don't go to HK, only worth it if the numbers add up. I for one took a 60 per cent pay cut 9 years ago to have the chance of living here. No housing allowance, just a salary. But with much lower tax I could justify it and also live in a more exciting place than in Australia. Amazed how many Aussies on the forum who whine about their lot in life, how bad Cathay is, how your free housing allowance is shrinking ( I get zero) and how hard it is to jump on your free company funded flights for your holidays ( I pay full rack rates for mine). If you don't like it ? Go home and stop whining!! Pay your 47 per cent tax there, live in a remote location and live the high life you crave! Just a bunch of self important losers. Enjoy your life and stop the crap!!!

EU point of view
 

Hi there! I hope you also have the perspective of an EU pilot. Other pilots here already expressed They. Make 2,000/month wiht wizzair! Or 3,000 after they payed their type Rating loans back. I hope you won't be judjung or have preconceptions about our decision makins on 38,000ft accepting a job for 6,500 month with housing allowance :) not everyone lives in Australia.
I love asia and lived like an asian already. And if someone wants lo live specifically in HK, may it be, why not CX.

HOWEVER! I also agree with you, with 500hrs on type I would choose other carriers in the region are paying more than CX. Totally aree.

Wallaroo - do you work for CX?