Originally Posted by
proskuneho
Yes, that makes complete sense. Yet my understanding of the DESO program is that the SO is hired to babysit the flight director somewhere over the Pacific while the captain and FO relax to avoid exceeding duty times. The SO gets NO takeoffs or landings, and no real control of the aircraft (but is still expected to be an ace in the sim).
CX does their initial training in Adelaide, Australia, right? Is the cadet training contracted out to a flight school there, or is it run directly by a Cathay subsidiary?
You aren't an SO forever. You are expected to be able to handle the aircraft like anyone else should you need to take control in an emergency. Right now the market is bearing applicants with much higher time. Maybe in a few years we will be back to the lower time guys. If you were the company would you hire low timers when you have jet Captains applying for the job?
The cadet training and initial SO training is done by a company called Flight Training Adelaide.