Braniff DC8

atpcliff, you are not the only one saying that either. Tell CX though, they need to hear it.

worstpilotever

Right....cx is going to listen to cliff. Nobody else does, why would they be any different?

Shibuya

Its really sad seeing a once great airline slide so far down. Their stock is worth about 11HKD a share now....

Dolphinflyer

Saw them slogging into a Holiday Inn SFO layover a couple of years ago.
Joking with CA about what a fall they've taken to end up staying at a flophouse with the likes of a Big 3 US bankruptcy basket case and a JFK LCC after crossing the Pacific.
He agreed.

Aurora8

There's another problem - well it is at Dragon Air, so I suppose the same at Cathay - and that is their policy of hiring 'local' FO's. I just spent some time in HKG with a friend who's been a CAPT at Dragon for 15 years, and he (South African) and his buddies (one Brit, one Canadian, I'm a 'Yank'), told me seemingly endless horror stories of FO's that, well, can't spell 'airplane' let alone fly an airplane. They have no interest in aviation really, just applied to what seemed like a good job. They're sent off to AUS to get a bare CPL or MCL and then come back directly into the right seat of an A330. They regularly fail sim rides and don't care, and are back at work the next day as if nothing has happened. One told me about an 21 yr old FO (female Chinese), that he asked, "If I was incapacitated right now, are you confident you could safely make an emergency landing?" Her answer: "I pray everyday on the bus when I come to work, that nothing will happen to the Captain because we will all die if something does."
Creates a lot of extra stress for the Captain...

C130driver

I flew them once, never again!! Same for Air Asia, I'll pay the extra 200-500 for a reputable carrier. Holy cow

tomgoodman

I was never paid enough to justify slogging. Perhaps a good mosey at best.

Aurora8

Just to make you feel more confident: one of the guys was flying as CA in sim training with 5 FO's where they were briefed (no surprises) the CA would be incapacitated on approach into HKG. All 5 crashed into the ocean... did it again, and 4 out of 5 crashed into the sea, and 1 overran the runway.

Adlerdriver

Is this Cathay or Dragon (or is there a diff?).

I'm supposed to fly Cathay twice this month with one of them connecting to Dragon. Maybe I'll take the train for the connection.

Braniff DC8

To be fair, you could say these things about most Asian carriers now. Singapore, for one sacked, (yes, I used the word sacked) their expats (mostly Aussie refugees) years ago. The airlines are trying to attract "talent" on the cheap but it is starting to backfire. It will take a major accident, I know, many have happened, to attract the attention of the various "authorities". I am honestly surprised the FAA isn't all over this but a 777-300er with 300 Yanks has not plunged into the ocean-YET.