Ban lifted-Cathay Pacific???

[atpcliff]

Hi!

I read this on another board...

"Pilot unions lift Cathay recruitment ban
Keith Wallis
6 June 2003 / 02:01 AM

Global pilot unions have agreed to lift their recruitment ban against Cathay Pacific Airways at the request of the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association (HKAOA)...."
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?threadid=92342

ANyone know about this?

CLiff
DTW

 

[PCL_128]

Yep, it's true. The ban has been lifted. For the official IFALPA statement, you can go to www.ifalpa.org and check out the press releases.

 

[blade230]

The HKAOA requested the ban be lifted quite a while ago, and it has finally gone through.

It won't help you much though, as Cathay is not anywhere near recruiting for the passenger fleet (Direct entry SO, China basing). Sparatic recruiting for the freighter fleet (Direct entry FO, for foreign basing) is happening at a very slow pace. Judging by your profile, you are a little light on the TT for that entry method.

Sorry, I wish things were better.

 

[LA Confidential]

So what are the minimums for the direct entry FO, freighter fleet?

 

[Jolly Roger]

Depends on the market, I got on as a direct entry F/O with less than 2500 total, although most was PIC in fighters. Many of the guys during that time (late 2000) had mil or corporate backgrounds, not sure of their times. I do know that the most recent hires had very good experience levels, had been skippers on widebodies for Canadian and other airlines who had come upon hard times, for example.

Hiring shouldn't start again until we are well clear of the SARS panic, maybe a long time to come, but who knows?... Good luck...

I believe the mins were 1000 hours jet time, or something like that. It may still be on the web somewhere, try a search.

 

[blade230]

Wow, less than 2500TT, that's incredibly low for Cathay DE FO.
Most Second O's have more time than that.

In these times, I don't think that would happen, but worth trying for sure.

 

[Jolly Roger]

Yes, many second O's did have much more than that, but many also lacked the jet mins for direct entry F/O positions, and perhaps many with the minimums met didn't want the conditions offered by the DE F/O scheme. The DE F/O positions are all freighter positions based away from Cathay's Hong Kong hub, on reduced payscale very similar to a new Second Officer. BTW, 2500 hours earned one hour at a time in a fighter in constantly challenging situations (including several hundred carrier landings) is good experience any way you look at it. Many S/O's have many thousands of hours, some have flown nothing more than mail runs in recips, others could rival the experience levels of many part 121 Captains.

I suppose it really doesn't matter since all recruiting is suspended. Cathay is a great company, and will get through this. It is a great testimonial that even during these bleak times, we have all shared in the pain, but no layoffs are planned. It has some pretty ambitious expansion plans if and when the market returns, and is a wonderful job... highly recommended to anyone, even "low timers" like me.

 

[blade230]

I respect any pilot that can put a bird down on a carrier.

I have a few friends, and 1 family member that were "low timers" when hired at Cathay. Coarse they are no longer low time SO's anymore. One joined through the cadet scheme, so he was really low. Like 200 hrs. low.

I guess you are ASL then, USA base, wasn't VETA's name changed. From what I am told, UK bases are usually for the 200 also, so I assume it's the US.

p.s. I have heard CD and AL are talking of possible DESO in late Sep. So things must be starting to pick up. Cathay is a great airline.

 

[General Lee]

Jolly Roger,

Just interested in some of your schedules on the Cargo line. Are you based in ANC? Where do you fly on a regular basis? Mainly USA to Hong Kong? What about Europe flights? How long are your trips? And, how's the pay? I know that's a lot of questions, but I see the cargo birds on the South side of LAX all the time and I just wondered what it was like.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Jolly Roger]

GL,

I'm based at LAX, typical pattern might be LAX-Vancouver-ANC- Hong Kong- ANC-LAX. Or perhaps JFK-ORD-ANC-HKG-ANC-LAX, or any combination thereof, but always Hong Kong somewhere along the line. Occasionally we drop into SFO, or do the odd runs to Tokyo or any number of ports in Asia. We have freighter guys based in Europe and Australia that fly those routes, although we can do temporary basings or base swaps if desired.

I typically do two patterns a month, one longer (7-8 days) one shorter (4-6 days), always at least 16 days home a month in large blocks, usually more. We typically have 30 hour layovers at most stops, many times longer. I'll just say the pace on the road is far from frantic! We get six weeks leave annually, in addition to required days off, so some months are extremely light.

We are salaried, not paid hourly, and have a pretty good renumeration package from multiple sources (salary, allowances, hourly duty pay, overtime, profit share, provident fund, etc.) passenger guys get even more. I won't give a figure, but PM me if you want and I will. Lets just say I did 11 years in the military, I left as an O-4 with flight pay, but made more at CX cargo the day I started. Any US major would have been at least a 50% pay cut.

The guys are great on the line and so are the aircraft, no complaints here whatever. We have taken the SARS hit due to the WHO and media, but loads are coming back so hopefully the road will smooth out for us soon.

 

[airgator]

Jolly Roger or anyone else-
I posted this question a while ago but nobody seemed to have the answer...Is it possible to fly for a foreign airline such as Cathay that has a US domicile and also fly in the guard/reserves? The reason I ask is because I know US companies have to let you go for mil duty, but a Chinese airline? Just curious.