I plan on just staying an FO for the next 6 to 7 years then try my hand at it.

The training department is truly what you make of it. I'm used to kissing butt in the military so the switch over wasn't very tough for me, but guys from US airlines have a much harder time adapting. Right or wrong, it is what it is. Some guys are leaving to go back with United, American, etc. And some guys are leaving to go with FedEx and UPS as new hires.

As I said before, they need to expand and with all the oppertunities with other airlines in the states they need to change their ways or else they are going to end up with a whole bunch of airplanes with no one to fly them.

No matter what anyone else says it WILL happen and even if it doesn't, it's still a great place to be, at least for me.

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Last edited by Bjammin : 11-16-2006 at 07:25.



You won't be fired. They will give you at least one more chance. After that they will let you stay on as an FO.

The airline has just about as many Captain's as FO/SO's so they have to let a good number of guys upgrade or else the airline will be limited in it's operations because of a lack of Captains.
That does not make for good money making possibilities and the airline is all about making money.

In addition the airline does have a union. It may not have the power of American unions, but the airline does listlen. It has too, they NEED pilots with this expansion going on and guys have many oppertunities elsewhere if they feel they are not well represented.

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Last edited by Bjammin : 11-16-2006 at 20:23.

So not being a union company and you bust upgrade. Are you, A fired, or B riding in the right seat the rest of your career?”


“You won't be fired. They will give you at least one more chance. After that they will let you stay on as an FO.”

The person I talked to (quit CP for a US cargo outfit after 4 years at Cathay) said that the “captain interview” is entirely biased and hard to figure out. It’s based on whether they like you or not, not your progression, your checkride history, etc, etc. He mentioned a person who didn't pass the “captain interview” and this person used to be a captain at one of the majors: either TWA or USAir, can’t remember. He was a captain there for several years. In other words the guy was good enough to fly as a captain for a major airline but somehow was not a “captain material” at CP. The worst part is that they do not explain their decision to you, just “sorry you are not accepted into the captain class, please try again in a couple of years.”

Also, if you screw up a checkride, they usually give you a second chance but it’s very unusual you’ll make it thorough. They basically want to get rid of you at that point and the second checkride is just a formality. Every now and then people squeeze through, but they’ll never be offered a captain slot. When he was hired some 4 years ago there were 12 guys in his class, all furloughed from US major airlines. There are only 3 of them left as most were either fired or just quit. This guy was truly happy to leave, he liked the pilots he flew with, said the hotels were great and so were the benefits. However, the constant fear of the training department “boot camp” abuse made his tenure there not enjoyable at all. He never busted a checkride but said he couldn’t wait to bail out.

Again, that’s just his story over several beers; don’t know how accurate it is. However, I was surprised to see someone with 4 year seniority at supposedly one of the finest airlines in the world leave.

Anything you know about airlines does not apply at CX!
with the 20 guys who joined around my time only 1 has been assessed suitable for command training first go. the other 19.
4 fired at different stages of their careers for different reason
8 resigned, 2 because they were not going to upgrade ever!
2 failed command courses
1 command taken away
4 assessed not yet suitable for training
How do you like those numbers?