CATHAY PACIFIC vs. FEDEX/UPS opinions

[Bjammin]

Exactly. Iluvetops has hit the nail on the head. Cathay is a great airline, no doubt, but you will never have the protections that you will have at Fedex or UPS. Conditions at Cathay will erode, it is a fact of life for expat airline jobs for that to be the case. Just look at what they have done so far: A scale, B scale, Freighter scale. That is not to say that conditons at Fedex and UPS won't erode, there is always that possibility, but you have a contract and it takes negotiations and agreements for it to happen.

Upgrades are another issue. Read Pprune to see how that works. If it is anything like Emirates ( and I'm told it is worse ), it is months and months of stress where if you make just one little mistake you fail. I doubt that is the case at Fedex and UPS.

Lastly, while the alure of living overseas seems exciting and adventurous it wears thin after a few years. When you have kids in school and a wife that wants to go home, what then? Some people can make it work long term, but there is a large number that can't.

Typhoonpilot

- The protection comes from the fact that the airline is making gobs of money, I'm sure the guys furloghed at DAL, UAL, AND AMR had a TON of protection, and the Chinese are not stupid enough to screw with a machine thats working. If the company errodes then it will have a huge effect on a large money maker for them.

-They had to bring the pay scales down some, they were paying twice as much, if not more, for pilots then any other airline. Pilots there are STILL making more money then any US carrier and most world carriers. The economy is growing BIG TIME over there and Cathay is in a great position to take advantage of that.

- I think you should work hard for an upgrade, but obviously people do it or they would be short on captains.

- As far as how the airline treats people, look into how they handled the SARS outbreak. I'll think you'll find it was handled much better then most American companies would have.


- Living overseas is an OPTION. I am married and have 2 kids that will be in college in a few years, about the time I have done my REQUIRED 3 years in the states. My wife and I would then love to move to HK or wherever. It is a personal CHOICE and will be great for some and maybe not so good for others.


Every airline has ups and downs, but if a major airline is hiring and has a very sound business model, then it should be reserched throughly to find out if it a match for you. For me, I want to be based on the coast, not Memphis, I want to fly PAX eventually, not freight for my career. I want to be with a company that is tied to the WORLD economy, not just the US.

I have done a TON of research over the past 3 years and Cathay works very well for me and maybe others that don't know much about it. If everyone gets there info from way old ALPA newsletters (49'rs) and internet forums then they may be remissed.

 

[Brown Cow]

This is the majors forum. How does this Asian carrier always end up on the majors forum? Plus how can one compare the strength of a combined 600 (guessing) or so freight airplanes with those 20 or so from an airline on a tiny island???

Been to Cathay City.........I think that the 8.5 million square feet (soon to be even more) of Brown's Worldport are just a little more impressive than a hotel built onto a terminal with a few offices. Brown and Purple have the shear size, determination and clout to dominate the exploding chinese market. CX doesn't have a chance!

BC

 

[psysicx]

I guess I should have asked why.It it because he doesn't like working at night?And upgrades are around 4 years at Fedex.

 

[Bjammin]

I'm not talking about size, I'm talking lifestyle and profitability and a very nice option that's available for a new hire.

CX hires US pilots and holds US bases, so why shouldn't it be on the majors forum. Your not an elitist, are you?

CX and, UPS and FedEX, and different animals as far as where they profit from. This is not about size and overall money, It's a discussion of companies to work for and why some may be better for people then others. Don't turn this into an us vs. them. It's about having options in other companies that are hiring and not putting out bad information.

FedEX and UPS look to be very stong for the long term and offer great employment oppertunities, but so does CX.

 

[klhoard]

I guess I should have asked why.It it because he doesn't like working at night?And upgrades are around 4 years at Fedex.

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What is your problem with night flying? Are you afraid that "night air has no lift"??
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[iluvetops]

The above is incorrect.
You can start as an FO on the pax side. A buddy of mine just finished IOE on the A-330.

[font=verdana, arial, helvetica]".......Six JFO courses scheduled to commence in March and April have been cancelled. Of course, this is disappointing to those who would have been on these courses, and it has the overall effect of slowing down promotion, but the priority right now is to stabilise the training rosters. Since the cancellation of the JFO upgrades means that we do not need to replace S/Os, six S/O induction courses have also been cancelled......"

So according to the rumours in "the street"; S/O's are in for the long haul, up to 4 years now. Joiners in Jan 2003 are expected to upgrade to JF/O in Jan 2007! Thats 1458 days of being treated like a zero on a contract.

All that we are good for seems to be "SAN FRANCISCO, SAN FRANSICO, CX 880 Calling SAN FRANSICO on xxxx" and that the man in the Left seat can "burn out" the S/O while he gets his beauty sleep

The mind boggles, and I have to ask if I made the right choice - joining in the "dark days" (which I still get hounded for at least once in every 10 sectors), then SARS and now this!

I used to love flying - now I ask my self what is it exactly that I do?[/font]


FACT......

Every pilots that joined on the PAX side will ALWAYS start as SO.....NO EXCEPTIONS..

 

[psysicx]

I was asking why his brother hates it.It seems that people like to sleep not work at night.For me I don't care because I'm a night owl.

 

[(o) (o)]

That was a GREAT reply!

Yes, my brother hates it.

Time to upgrade? I'm STARTING as an FO with upgrade potential to 744 captain in 4 to 5 years. How long would it take a starter at FedEX to be an MD-11 Captain?

I don't want a flame war either. I had my app into FedEx as long as I did to Cathay. Cathay called and Cathay hired.

People bashing a company they don't know much about is lousy, especially to someone who's looking for a job. You may turn a guy off to it before he finds out what it's truly like and it may have been a great fit. Just like not knowing you could enter as an FO not an SO.

They are already allowing PAX capatins to retire at age 60 on the freighter fleet. By the time I get to age 55 I'm sure all will be allowed to retire at 60. That's 25 yers away for me!

I have been treated VERY well, the pay is great, being based in LA on the 744 doesn't stink, and doing some training in Australia sounds good to me as well.

Until you have been to Cathay City and meet the people involved in the airline, DON'T discount it! it may be a great option.

Don't trust pprune either, look at these forums, what would you truly believe from them?

Last freighter CA upgrade class: 12 trainees, 2 passed. 'nuff said.

The bottom line, you've gotta crazy to pass up FedEx or UPS for Cathay..trust me, I am a CX puke.

And by the way, get real used to being called "yank"..and be familiar with the nightly "north american" bashing from the british trash you'll be flying with.

I, too, was treated very well when I was there for my 2 days of interviews, but sadly the people in the recruitment office do not reflect how the people in the training department and the rest of the company behaves.

You are free to PM me in about 6 months time and express your anger.

Until then, good luck.

 

[Dave Benjamin]

This is the majors forum. How does this Asian carrier always end up on the majors forum? the exploding chinese market. CX doesn't have a chance!

BC

Uhhhh, perhaps because there are thousands of pilots furloughed from the "real" majors that are looking for work.

Whether or not CX is a great place to work is one thing. Your statement that CX doesn't have a chance could turn out to be quite inaccurate.

 

[fr8doggie]

- For me, I want to be based on the coast, not Memphis, I want to fly PAX eventually, not freight for my career. I want to be with a company that is tied to the WORLD economy, not just the US.

Just so you know... our motto is "the WORLD on time". I would guess that at least 50% of our flying is international.

We have an LAX crew base (MD-11). A guy could probably hold that in year 2-3.

I'm based in MEM and live in FLL. It's no big whoop.

I'm not bad mouthing CX but FedEx is truly a great place to fly. We probably have the widest variety of flying of any airline in the world. I'm sorry that your brother is unhappy here.