Cathay Pacific

[flexi_time]

Does anybody Know anything about Cathay's interview process.
I spoke to their union and they said it's O.K to start the interview process as long as employment is not accepted.they also said they made progress and the ban might get lifted soon.
I have an interview next mont in L.A for a second officer position.
Has anyone been through the process? what is their vison requirment cut off? What is the first interview all about? is it a technical one or H.R?
Any info will be appreciated

 

[spitfiremk8]

How did you get your interview? Resume by fax? More recent info about the interview process is available on aviationinterviews.com. Good luck!

 

[General Lee]

That Asian Flu---SARS---is killing them right now. I read that they were cancelling over 1/3 of their PAX flights---and they may hault
aircraft deliveries for awhile. This whole industry is falling apart.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[mar]

Resourcefulness is a strength in pilots

Flexi--Good luck in the interview.

Cathay Pacific Interview Part I

Cathay Pacific Interview Part II

P.S. The search function really does work.

Also try Professional Pilots RUmour NEtwork (Pprune.org)

Go to the Fragrant Harbour section for the whole Hong Kong scene.

P.P.S. I just checked to make sure the links work. They do. Sorry about the annoying red highlighted words (search targets).

 

[flexi_time]

Thanks

Hey Thanks for all the useful info, i will order the book.
By the way any idea what their eyesight limit is on their medical?

 

[flexi_time]

The books

Where can i get the two books "preparing for your Cathay Pacific interview"and "handling the big jets" by davies?

 

[Singlecoil]

Re: The books

Where can i get the two books "preparing for your Cathay Pacific interview"and "handling the big jets" by davies?

I thought I was going to interview at Cathay several years ago and found the Davies book on Amazon for about $30. I think it is over $100 on Amazon now, you might try Ebay, or the library.

 

[blade230]

Very strict eye sight requirements. On top of that, Cathay will not accept anybody with lasek eye surgery. During your first interview, you will be required to fill out a priliminary medical questionaire. This may seem like a formality, but many are disqualified from the second interview because of this.

Good luck,

Going from captain, to second officer, big step.
But Cathay is worth it. A fantastic airline, with an excellent pilot group for the most part.

 

[Heavy Set]

Still hiring with SARS? Even now?

I hear Cathay is a great place to work - if you exclude the union/management infighting.

Flexi-Time,

Are they still hiring despite the SARS epidemic? Are you interviewing for the passenger or cargo division? Will you originally be based out of Hong Kong or L.A.? Lastly, any indication about upgrade time to FO - could you go to another fleet like the 777 or the A330?

Good luck

 

[blade230]

All SO's are based in China. Only freighter FO's are initially based in North America. YVR, YYZ, SFO, LAX, and I still believe Chicago. Upgrade time to junior FO, which you must serve as before reaching FO is realistically about 2.5 to 3 years, sometimes longer depending on your position with management. Seniorty does not really determine upgrade, equipment, or bidding. It is much different than the USA. Company assigns equipment, base, and schedule. The first of my friends is upgrading to JFO now, he has been there just under 3 years. He is well liked by management.

Cheers

 

[flexi_time]

I'm still not sure about Cathay's vision requirments, I know it's not like here that as long as you have it corrected to 20/20 your'e o.k.
My correction is not that strong but i don't know if it is good enough for them and was thinking about going for the ortho-k procedure. Does anybody know how much correction they'll accept or how well and fast does the ortho-k work?
Thanks

 

[blade230]

The best way to answer your question is either to call Claire, or Carol. Both of them are very friendly, and would be happy to tell you. Dr. Rose Ong, if I remember the name correctly, is still one of the company medical officers, but I would not know how to reach her directly from outside HK.

On the bleak side of things, I am afraid your interview will soon be cancelled. From what I hear, things are not well over there. Voluntary leave requests have already begun.

Cheers,

 

[flx757]

I found this press release on Cathay's web site. It says 42% of their schedule is currently cancelled, and that they are doing everything they can to "preserve cash" and "minimize expenditure". I would agree with blade that things are not well there.

 

[typhoonpilot]

flexi_time:

The two books you're after can be found at the Transair pilot shop in the UK. Not to worry they have an internet sight with on-line sales. Just do a yahoo search for Transair pilot shop and you'll be good to go. They did a re-print of " Handling The Big Jets " so it is reasonably priced.

A long time ago someone I know did Ortho K in San Jose, Ca with Dr. Ross, Wan, and Associates. It took about 6 weeks to get him from 20-35 to 20-20.

Typhoonpilot

 

[Flic1]

And to top it off, it looks like they may halt all flights for the month of because of this stupid SARS thing.....


SARS to ground Cathay?

Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific may halt passenger flights as SARS fears hits tourism.
April 12, 2003: 1:55 PM EDT



HONG KONG (Reuters) - Cathay Pacific, Asia's fourth-largest airline, is considering grounding all passenger flights next month as a deadly virus sweeping through Hong Kong scares away travellers and threatens the airline's survival.

The drastic measure being considered by Cathay, facing the worst crises in its history, comes as Asian carriers cancel hundreds of flights because tourists and business people stay at home, terrified of contracting Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

An internal Cathay memo, sighted by Reuters on Saturday, showed the airline expected passenger numbers to shrink to less than 6,000 per day -- a fall of 80 percent from normal times.

"We forecast that the number of passengers could fall to less than 6,000 per day in May in which case we will have to consider grounding the entire passenger fleet," Nick Rhodes, Cathay Director of Flight Operations said in an internal Internet posting sighted by Reuters.

Hong-Kong's Cathay is currently carrying less than 10,000 passengers per day compared to the usual passenger levels of more than 30,000, Rhodes said in the grave memo.

Cathay issued a public statement later saying it "has no plans as of now to stop operation at any future date." It did not say whether it has plans to cancel all flights if passenger levels continue to deteriorate.

"This is an internal memo and I will not discuss it publicly," a Cathay spokeswoman told Reuters, referring to questions on the content of the memo.

SARS toll grows
The highly contagious pneumonia-like disease has already killed 120 people and infected more than 3,100 people around the world as the virus hitches a ride with air travellers.

The toll has been mounting by the day since a mainland Chinese man carrying the virus died in Hong Kong last month before infecting scores of others.

Cathay is being especially hard hit because Hong Kong is at the epicentre of the outbreak which is causing tremors throughout the region's carriers.

Thai Airways International, Malaysian Airline System and Singapore Airlines on Friday announced hundreds of cancellations. Australia's Qantas Airways has said it would fire 1,000 staff, or about three percent of its workforce, as it also feels the bug's bite.

Singapore Airlines, Asia's most profitable airline, plans to reduce capacity by almost 20 percent by cutting flights to mostly SARS-affected destinations.

Bleeding cash
"We are literally haemorrhaging cash - approximately $3 million per day. The current strategy is simply to stem the bleeding and buy time," Cathay's Rhodes said, citing a briefing given by the airline's chief executive officer David Turnbull on Friday.

Rhodes said the airline currently has cancelled about 42 percent of its flights and the remaining flights are operating at a load factor of 30-35 percent. Load factor indicates the number of paying customers as a proportion of seats available.

In the public statement, Cathay said: "Despite the current difficult situation...the airline is maintaining its network and providing scheduled services as much as possible."

Among the hardest-hit by SARS, Hong Kong's tourism industry saw a free fall in air travellers getting on and off the tarmac. Luxury hotels record single-digit occupancy rates as the local Airport Authority said about 33 percent of the total number of scheduled flights for April has been cancelled.

Cathay, with a turnover of more than HK$33 billion (US$4.23 billion) in 2002, issued its first-ever profit warning on Friday citing adverse impacts by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus and the war on Iraq.

The warning hammered Cathay's shares to their 16-month low, closing at HK$8.95 on Friday. They had lost nearly a quarter of their value in the last three weeks when SARS first reared its head in Hong Kong in March.

Cathay has already stopped all "non-essential" expenditure and it is offering voluntary unpaid leave.

"If there is not a miracle cure for SARS soon and a sudden withdrawal of the WHO advisory against travel to Hong Kong, the cuts are going to have to be deeper," the memo said.

The measures include involuntary unpaid leave and job sharing, it said.

"Whatever scheme is agreed, the company is determined that every employee will share the pain equally. We are all in this together," it said.

"Even if all employees worked for nothing at present, we would still be losing nearly US$2 million per day. Any savings will only buy time," it added.

 

[airgator]

Flexi-
I saw the Cathay book @ the aviation bookstore across the street from YYZ not too long ago. I've ordered a couple of things online from them in the past and they were shipped pretty quick:
http://www.aviationworld.net/categories.asp?cID=2

 

[flexi_time]

Thanks again

Thanks for all the info i 0rdered the books on line, but it seems like i will have bigger worries than that now.
With that SARS thing going on i won't be surprised if i receive a phone call canceling my interview, what a bumer.

 

[Lou]

Salary for Cathay Pacific

The salary for a second officer 1st year is HK$386,556 per annum. Does anybody know what that would be in the U.S ?

 

[flexi_time]

SARS

Well they did it, they called lasst night to cancell the interview due to SARS, hopefuly they'll find the cure here pretty soon.

 

[blade230]

I am sorry, but I hope they find a cure soon for my friends and family in Hong Kong, and all the people in the rest of the world who are sick.