For comparison of the above scales...
HK based SO's make over 80K first year...if you include the base pay PLUS the housing stipend/allowance they give you for living in HK. That number is before benefits and "per diem"(or whatever they call their away pay). Exact numbers i got were 389,000HKD base plus 21,000 housing allowance, then add in benefits (medical is paid 100% by company), retirement (they pay 15% whether you contribute or not), and then their away pay. One story i heard said that for a two day trip to LAX from HK the crew received ~190 cash each when they showed up to the hotel to check in for their layover...they don't call it per diem though, something else. Altogether the number that was quoted to me was approximately 730,000HKD your first year after everything...now how accurate that final total is i do not know, but it was from a current CX pilot. Oh yeah, the current exchange rate hovers right at 7.8 HKD to 1 USD...my total for that amount comes to 93.5K+ a dollar or two.
So compare that to the freighter side, and you can see they pay much better if you fly the pax, and i am sure living in HK can't be too bad...I know my wife and i have been discussing it recently, and we think it would be exciting.
To the best of my knowledge this info is correct and from a credible source in the company...if i am wrong maybe someone else can chime in and correct me.
Oh yeah, one last thing...the above rates are for HK ONLY...if you live anywhere else, you do not receive the allowance, and the pay decreases dramatically.