NetJets or Cathay Pacific

[gvandy]

Got a chance to go with NetJets and fly a "sleek" business jet around the country OR got to Cathay Pacific and fly a B747-400 out of Hong Kong around the world. Anybody with some insight into either one of these outfits I am open to you opinions.

 

[petitepilot]

Go with Cathay!!! All my friends love it!

 

[cherry20's]

Go buy a lottery ticket! Either one would be great, just up to personal preference.

 

[flyzimex]

Two different kind of lifestyles..

Congrats on having the choice between two world class operators, each in its own segment of the aviation world. I don't work for neither, but I have friends at both places.

I know for fact that my friends at NJA love it, and the guys at CX aren't complaining so far. However in this case I believe it all comes down to choosing between two different lifestyles in my opinion. If you are one day planning on raising a family and still have a very good career I would personally go with NJA, but if your life is and always will be aviation, CX might be for you. Not saying you can't have a family at CX, but Hong Kong is not the place to raise kids I've been told. You can live very comfortably in HK as single but once you starting adding occupants it will get cramped unless you sit on some serious cash. You do get house allowance at CX, but it only goes so far.

I have heard from several people that management at CX can be tough people to deal with. You are always under scrutiny with constant checks hanging over your head. I believe OPC every three months, correct me if I am wrong, and for some people that becomes too much. For info from the insiders I would suggest you visit the Fragrant Harbor or Fragrant Harbor Wannabee sections at www.pprune.com . Lots of info there.

As for NJA, all you need to do is check the endless posts on this forum. I have never really heard anything bad about them.

A few months ago at a CRM course in Zwitzerland I ran into a somewhat older gentleman who had been at CX for several years, got tired of the mentality over there, joined NJE but left after several years and is now on a private Falcon out of Malaysia. It's all to each to his own.

As Cherry put it, you can't really go wrong with either, it's all about what you are looking for. Just remember, in aviation size really doesn't matter if you ask the old and wise. A 747 doesn't necessarily give you a better life than an Ultra.

Since I'm not working for either, I will stand corrected for those with more accurate information. Simply going on what I have read and heard from friends..

Best of luck.. :beer:

/FlyZimex

 

[TurboJetCpt]

Netjets...

 

[VVJM265]

Tough choice and good luck with your decision. I had hoped to be in your postion, but fate had other designs. I interviewed with SWA, CX (part II) and NJA. Got "no thank you"s from SWA and CX and in the end the stars aligned for the best option for both myself and my family, and I am happy as a clam here.

Since we had just come back from our second tour in Italy, and had done a tour in HI, the primary attraction of CX, for us, was the chance to live overseas, on the company's dime, again. The international culture at CX, both in the cockpit and and within the company is something that was powerfully attractive to me. However, I was personally wasn't super enthusied about flying the same handful of routes for the next three years. Nor was was I particularly excited about the horror stories one hears on pprune about their training department, it reminded me too much of VP-30 "back in the day." (P-3 guys will understand.) Perhaps those issues came through in the interview. That said, all the guys I met there, include my AF buddy who retired a few months before me and has just finished IOE, are very positive about the place. The company has been turning a profit for over 60 yrs now, and is still growing, so they must be doing something correct.

The primary attraction, for me, of NJA was first and formost the flying. I cut my teeth in the Saberliner flying the brass around Europe (my avatar is from a squadron photo-X over Mt. Etna, about 16 yrs ago, CO was in the left seat, I was in the right) and truely enjoy this type and variety of flying. Every tour here is absolutely different and that keeps it interesting and helps to keep ones skills sharp, imho.

First order pros and cons:

You will make more $$ initally at CX, especially if you take the 15% retirement fund as cash; depending on how old you are, over the long term CX vs NJA, CX would probably still get the nod but not by much.

Regarding stability, I don't think either company is going anywhere any time soon. History gives the nod to CX, but again, not by much. As one of my buddies, who has been here nearly ten yrs now, said, "if we start losing owners, something is much more than seriously wrong with our economy."

There are many posts on FlightInfo wrt the postitive aspects of NJA, but I think the heart of decision between CX and here really comes down to one of culture, both corporate and cockpit.

CX is very much an international company, the pilot workforce is scattered arround the globe, not well organized and management uses that to their advantage (i.e the 49ers), because of the extreamly different cultural backgrounds, the training is very ridged and standardized, some would say excessively so, culture shock is something you will need to prepare yourself for. You will fly big iron to some interesting places, especially during IOE, and may easily find yourself sitting next to a British or Chinesse captain. If any airline still has the air of "the glory days of being an airline pilot," CX is it.

NetJets also is an internaional company, but not in the sense that CX is. The pilot workforce at NJA is very well organized and we have a great union in place. While we have pilots form varied aviation backgrounds, we do not have the extreme cultural spread that CX has, although we do have a handfull of guys who hail form distant parts of the globe and ended up here. The training, both at Columbus and the FSI centers is much more relaxed than anything the folks at CX could concieve of; you may find yourself in culture shock, but in a good way. If you come here, you will fly with interesting folks, and interesting pax, to an infinite variety of places, both domestic and international. For our clientele, private aviation is the way of the future and so I think you will have a long, stable and enjoyable career here.

Good luck with your choice.

Cheers,
VVJM265
:beer:

 

[Mach92]

We had a 5 year Captain leave for Cathay 8 months ago. He has now quit CX and is trying to come back to us. So far he has had no luck. If he get an interview its back to the bottom of the list. I won't get into details but nothing sounded good about the current situation at CX.

 

[learpilot55]

gvandy, is that right. Are you currently an FO on a Saab 340 with 4300 hours and you got offers from cathay and netjets?

 

[gvandy]

The one and only....

 

[gvandy]

BTW, thanks guys for all the helpfull replys. Greatly appreciated.

 

[johnsonrod]

Do you like 10-12 hour flights? Those would get pretty boring after awhile IMHO. Sure, see the world but even that gets boring after a year or two. Your body will let you know that it is tired.

If you join Netjets, you might have the opp to fly GIV/GVs as an FO after a few years and you can see the world on those airplanes until your body can't take it any longer. Then you could bid the XLS or Hawker as PIC and enjoy flying around the US on shorter trips.

I would take Netjets and then hope to see the world on the Gulfstreams as an FO after a few years...

 

[CALRepublic]

Go with Cathay!!! All my friends love it!

Really, that's weird. Everyone I've talked to did not like it. Very strict working environment, loooong flights, captains don't let you fly the airplane, they prefer "you engage the AP", blah, blah, blah.

A guy from American Eagle went there, two years later he left and went to Airtran.

 

[av8tor4239]

NetJets.. no question at all.. you would be crazy to pass up a netjets offer

 

[Rook]

Tough choice and good luck with your decision. I had hoped to be in your postion, but fate had other designs. I interviewed with SWA, CX (part II) and NJA. Got "no thank you"s from SWA and CX and in the end the stars aligned for the best option for both myself and my family, and I am happy as a clam here.

Since we had just come back from our second tour in Italy, and had done a tour in HI, the primary attraction of CX, for us, was the chance to live overseas, on the company's dime, again. The international culture at CX, both in the cockpit and and within the company is something that was powerfully attractive to me. However, I was personally wasn't super enthusied about flying the same handful of routes for the next three years. Nor was was I particularly excited about the horror stories one hears on pprune about their training department, it reminded me too much of VP-30 "back in the day." (P-3 guys will understand.) Perhaps those issues came through in the interview. That said, all the guys I met there, include my AF buddy who retired a few months before me and has just finished IOE, are very positive about the place. The company has been turning a profit for over 60 yrs now, and is still growing, so they must be doing something correct.

The primary attraction, for me, of NJA was first and formost the flying. I cut my teeth in the Saberliner flying the brass around Europe (my avatar is from a squadron photo-X over Mt. Etna, about 16 yrs ago, CO was in the left seat, I was in the right) and truely enjoy this type and variety of flying. Every tour here is absolutely different and that keeps it interesting and helps to keep ones skills sharp, imho.

First order pros and cons:

You will make more $$ initally at CX, especially if you take the 15% retirement fund as cash; depending on how old you are, over the long term CX vs NJA, CX would probably still get the nod but not by much.

Regarding stability, I don't think either company is going anywhere any time soon. History gives the nod to CX, but again, not by much. As one of my buddies, who has been here nearly ten yrs now, said, "if we start losing owners, something is much more than seriously wrong with our economy."

There are many posts on FlightInfo wrt the postitive aspects of NJA, but I think the heart of decision between CX and here really comes down to one of culture, both corporate and cockpit.

CX is very much an international company, the pilot workforce is scattered arround the globe, not well organized and management uses that to their advantage (i.e the 49ers), because of the extreamly different cultural backgrounds, the training is very ridged and standardized, some would say excessively so, culture shock is something you will need to prepare yourself for. You will fly big iron to some interesting places, especially during IOE, and may easily find yourself sitting next to a British or Chinesse captain. If any airline still has the air of "the glory days of being an airline pilot," CX is it.

NetJets also is an internaional company, but not in the sense that CX is. The pilot workforce at NJA is very well organized and we have a great union in place. While we have pilots form varied aviation backgrounds, we do not have the extreme cultural spread that CX has, although we do have a handfull of guys who hail form distant parts of the globe and ended up here. The training, both at Columbus and the FSI centers is much more relaxed than anything the folks at CX could concieve of; you may find yourself in culture shock, but in a good way. If you come here, you will fly with interesting folks, and interesting pax, to an infinite variety of places, both domestic and international. For our clientele, private aviation is the way of the future and so I think you will have a long, stable and enjoyable career here.

Good luck with your choice.

Cheers,
VVJM265
:beer:

Great post VV.:beer:

 

[G100driver]

I have no personal expirence at either, however all of my friends who were furloughed at UAL that went to Cathy ... went back to UAL.

All my friends at NetJets love it.

 

[Danny040]

I had the same choice. Chose NetJets. It's really just personal preferences. What is it you really want?

If you can be a US based FO on the freighter side and not have to commute to a North American domicile. I think it can rival NetJets then.

Good Luck

 

[Learjunky]

Net jets for sure...i know some guys that went to cathay and left, i know some guys still there.
Different culture....they don't train to standards at Cathay...they just fire you

 

[captain007]

NetJets!

I can only think of two maybe three other places I would even think about going other than NetJets.

 

[TXDanno]

...I can only think of two maybe three other places I would even think about going other than NetJets.

What two or three, and why?

For anyone, would any airline/cargo operations provide a superior career/lifestyle than NetJets?

Discuss.

I only have the outside perspective, from the military looking in, so any information is appreciated. I need to figure out what I'm going to do when I grow up.

 

[captain007]

What two or three, and why?

For anyone, would any airline/cargo operations provide a superior career/lifestyle than NetJets?

Discuss.

I only have the outside perspective, from the military looking in, so any information is appreciated. I need to figure out what I'm going to do when I grow up.

It's all up to you. For me, NetJets is the place I want to be. I can live where I want. First year pay is great. They have some of the best benefits out there (100% medical). Everyone there seems real happy.

To me (Only me), NetJets ranks up there with Fedex and UPS.