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Cathay Pacific ??

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airludy

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 26, 2002
Posts
157
I am interested in Cathay Pacific... I heard that you can get on as a second officer with about 1000 hours.. Does anyone know anything about getting a job with them??
 
According to their web site they are only taking in apps for their Cadet Program. You might also check out www.pprune.org and look under Fragrant Harbour for more info and to see what their labor relations are like right now. Good Hunting!
 
there was a guy who posted about 6 months ago that all new hires are considered scabs. This is due to a rivalry between union and management. Management fired several dozen pilots cause the squaked and now they're replacing them with low time guys.

Stay away my brother.
 
Don't ever, ever go there! It was a really great airline to work for before 1993, but things have gotten very bad since then.

There are basically no labor laws in Hong Kong so the union is actually a "pilot's association." Management does whatever it wants and the Hong Kong Aircrew Officer's Association (HKAOA) has very little ammo to deal with it. Last year in a move to intimidate the pilots, the company fired 52 pilots (49 at once) because they decided that there were things in the pilots' files that they didn't like.

Recently one of the 49ers died after falling from a balcony soon after the HKAOA's court case was lost in Hong Kong and the pilots realized that they would never get their jobs back. The HKAOA has sent a request to the United Nations Committee on Basic Human Rights for an investigation on the firings. There is also recruitment ban in place by IFALPA against Cathay Pacific.

Not only is Cathay brutal on it's employees, but it is also a trap. After the one year of probation is over pilots have to give 3 months notice to resign or have to pay the company 3 months of salary and housing allowance. It makes it really tough to find another job once you've come to hate life there.

But enough of my ranting. If you're still interested check out www.pprune.com Click on "Bulletin Boards" then on "Rumours & News", then at the bottom use the menu to go to the "Fragrant Harbour Forum." It will only show the last 5 day's messages, but you can use the menu at the top right to show past messages.

If this still doesn't convince you, then at least check out Emirates first. They're less likely to ruin your life.

Sorry if I sound so negative, but I don't want anyone to go through the same thing I did. It took me two years to get the freakin' job and three years to get rid of it. If you can work in the US, never, ever leave!
 
Just out of curiosity

Hey Tref, since we have your attention, just a couple questions:

What did you do before CX? I see your type ratings so I have a pretty good feeling that you were at the regionals and then probably some carrier like AirTran maybe?

And where, if you don't mind, did you go after CX? You don't have to name the company but maybe just generally categorize it.

Also, do you have any idea what Emirates is looking for?

Ok, that was three questions. Send me a private message if you like.

Thanks.
 
Before CX I was a J-31 FO and a BE-90 Captain. When I went they were basically looking for 2000 hours of multi turbine; the rest of your time wasn't that important. They also had a maximum age, but that was variable as was the flight time.

They basically poach pilots from the rest of the world, so when there is a slowdown somewhere, they scoop up that country's pilots. When there are a large number of pilots available around the world looking for work the max age goes down and the min flight time goes up. I would assume that is the case now.

Having said that, Cathay Pacific is now trying to replace pilots who were fired without just cause and so any pilot who goes there now will be considered a scab by IFALPA. (The burning in hell for all eternity thing would kinda suck too.)

I'm not sure what is up with Emirates now. I've sort of lost track over the last few years, but their requirements were usually similar to Cathay's if not a little higher. I think people there were generally happy. Dubai is a much nicer place to live than Hong Kong (IMO), although I'm not sure I'd want to be a westerner living in the middle east right now.

After leaving CX I spent a stint in the left seat of a Saab and I'm now waiting to get called back into one of those red tailed Diesel Nines. Funny, I'm happier to be laid off from a great airline than to be working for a crappy one. I do miss the flying though.
 
Thanks for the quick response

Great response, man.

Hope your time-off doesn't last too much longer.
 
US pilots caution on air deal with Hong Kong

WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Pilots at American Airlines (NYSE:AMR - news) requested on Tuesday the United States not strike any air deal with Hong Kong to permit an alliance between the world's biggest carrier and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. until Cathay improves its labor practices.

In a letter to Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, the Allied Pilots Association said Hong Kong's flagship carrier and Asia's fourth-largest airline has openly defied contractual obligations with its pilots.

The airline and its pilots union, the Hong Kong Air Officers Association, are locked in a bitter dispute over pay and benefits as well as working conditions and scheduling.

A work-to-rule campaign by the pilots, who claim the company has intimidated them, has led to flight delays and cancellations.

Cathay Pacific countercharges that the union is insincere, has hurt business, and has unfairly characterized the carrier as an unsafe airline.

Transportation Department negotiators are in Hong Kong this week for air talks that could produce a limited accord that would allow Cathay and American to launch a new code-share agreement.

This prospect concerns the American pilots who say the Cathay pilots are under siege.

``We respectfully request that you conclude no agreements expanding access to U.S. destinations for Cathay Pacific until the employment and human rights of the Cathay Pacific pilots are safeguarded,'' wrote John Darrah, president of the Allied Pilots Association.
 
Thats guys! I researched this airline and it really looks like a bad place to work. I would be much better off at an US regional or corporation. Living here too!
 

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