I was hired in 2006 and back then you could only enter as an FO on the freighter route (pay, schedules etc) only other choices were as an SO or as a cadet. Now you are hired as an FO and you go to whatever fleet they think needs you first, A340 in YVR/AMS/SYD/MEL, B777 in YYZ/LAX or the -400 in ANC/ATL/LAX/CHI/NYC/LON/PAR/MAN.

Since I was hired on the "old" contract, I have to finish out my 3 year freighter commitment and then I can try and get a basing as a -400 passenger fleet FO, in HKG, US, or Canada, and my pay scale would blow the new payscales out of the water. However, by the time I, and a good number of my fellow -400F FOs, finish our commitment there will be no -400 basings in North America as the 777 is replacing all of the passenger flying to the continent. Therefore, we will most likely be stuck in our positions on the freighter pay scales until CX find it in their hearts to get rid of the freighter only pay. Personally, I think that they are trying to force us to take an upgrade as that will be the only way to staff the left seat of the freighter and the only way for us to get a raise and stay in the US.

Clear as mud?

FO

Thank you so much for the explanation. I'll be heading to HKG soon for the final interview, that explains a lot for me.

Just out of curiosity, how are the allocations to each plane made? When you get there do you have any chance of getting what you'd like. I understand that they will only put you in a domicile where you have the right to work, right? If so, how are Americans getting YVR?

sunnfun,

I just rcvd the initial interview E-Mail last night for early May. Do you have any advice as far as prep? Any other feedback on the first stage? Do they let you know the day of initial if you were selected to continue? And last, but not least, how much time between initial and second interview?

Thanks in advance for any info.

The gouge available here, at pprune.org and aviationinterviews.com is still very accurate. They have not changed their interview format at all.

You will get the result after about two weeks after the initial interview. I got the date for the second interview about 5 months after the initial.

5 months?!
Is that the norm and do you think that trend will continue?
I am retiring from AD this year and my initial date is 3 weeks from my intended terminal LV commencement date for a 1 SEP out the door retirement date. Was hoping to have secured a job by June. Guess I'll have to readjust my planning:)

Well, that's what it took for me. I guess you could call and ask Amy what you can expect. Good luck on your intial! :)

Allocations are made basically by filling the next vacancy and course date with someone from the successful list. You can turn down a class and wait for something different later on. Know of guys that turned down the Canada base just for commuting issues.

CX seems to treat the US and Canada a bit different than the rest of the world when it come to recruitment. There are alot of Canadians based in the US on the freighter and like you mentioned, now Americans being based in Canada. During my recruitment they asked me where I had the right to work and was only able to choose basings in the US. My wish list in 2006 could not have been, NYC,LON,ATL,PAR, just US cities.

FO

Hi, also trying to get on with CX. Just wondering if you can send me those interview information. I would really appreciate it if you would. [email protected] Thanks~
Ed.

Can you apply for a specific location? I live on west coast so SFO would be best for me, but I could probably work LAX as well. I'm not sure how commuting goes - I figure you have to get yourself to work and can't jumpseat with other airlines, etc.

All the CX guys I run into on the van in LAX that commute use ZED/ID's to get to work.

What are ZED/ID's?

ID = Industry Discount

ZED = Zonal Employee Discount (I think)

Basically standby at a very low priority.

FO

When you get hired at just about any airline, you will have travel agreements with many OTHER airlines as well. They are two categories. It just depends on the carrier and the agreement between YOUR airline and the OTHER airline. BOTH types of passes are NRSA ONLY. Non-revenue space available seats, not a confirmed seat.

ZED, Zonal Employee Discount. The fare you pay is based on mileage ZONES. I can't remember the specific breakdown, but say any departure and destination combination between 0-599 miles is a flat rate of $35 dollars. The next mileage ZONE being 600-1200, costing $50, 1201-1800 $65, etc.

Note, the zones and prices are just EXAMPLES ONLY.

ID, Inter line, or Inter airline discount is the other type. An ID90 means that it is 90% off of the highest published Y class fare for that route. You pay 10%. Note, it's the HIGHEST fare. There are also ID95's, ID75's, ect. As above, it's what your airline negotiated with the other carrier. You may get an ID90, YOUR parents may be eligible for an ID75.

A ZED is almost always cheaper.

To give you an example, my company has a ZED agreement with QANTAS, and a ID agreement with Air New Zealand. BOTH AZ and QA fly LAX to Auckland non stop. The ZED fare on QA, $215 rountrip. The ID90 on AZ, $550 round trip.

Both types of tickets are refundable within a certain date. You get them from your employee travel office/bureau. You can also buy them from your airline's ticket counter if the agent is savvy enough to pull it up for you. Like the other guy said, you are the LOWEST priority standby passenger.

Say you are using a ID/ZED on United to get somewhere. Their OWN employees, spouses/dependents of employees, companion/buddy pass riders will ALL get a seat before you.

DoJet is right as usual. I'm at CX and I will use a $50 ZED to go to work. I will give my self enough time so if I cant get on the flights then I drive. If that means I have to leave for work rather early then if I get there early I will get a room and rest. I dont recommend putting your self in a position that you have to commute with limited flights and can not drive. Bottom line, you must make your flight.

Also, I got sick on a layover and CX took awesome care of me. This is my 5th airline and they have by far done the best job taking care of a sick crew member than any company I have been at.

By the way, the DoJet is a kick ass plane.

Hey man, how's things up in the 'couver? You working much or just YVR to HKG and back?

Yeah, I miss the 328. The XR model of the ERJ is OK, but there's still a lot of things the Dornier had that I WISH the ERJ had.

Its great! I do a HKG four day trip 3 times a month, best deal going.

The VNAV on the Primus2000 (The Mighty DoJet) is better than the 340 or 74. Though I hear the 777 is very good as well.

Man that p!sses me off. You are brand new and I am stuck doing 8-10 trips, and for the final blow to the ole' gonads....you make more money than I do.

Seniority at Cathay = absolutely nothing.

FO

since you guys are talking about cathay I just thought I'd post up. I just interviewed with them and like everyone says, You have no idea when you leave if they liked you or not. the interview was not all that I had prepared for though. yes there was the tech interview and all of that but once the h.r questions ended was where it threw me. no airplane models no questions about how many planes do we have, no real company history questions, or anything like that. Kinda of a downer since I'd spent so much time prepping for all of that. I'm supposed to call in a week or so to find out if they want me back for another one. We will see I guess, but I do know that it's going to be a long week waiting to find out. good luck to those of you who do have an interview coming up soon

Thanks for the post ashcroft and goodluck! I have heard but maybe a completely unsubstantiated rumor, but they seem to know if they like you before you even meet them (logbooks, quals, experience, etc.) and the interview goes in that direction. If you they like you=easy short questions, if they don't=you get NASA level questions for an hour. Maybe you'll get to show them your knowledge at the second interview.

I hope that you are right. They were extremely friendly and very personable, the gentleman who conducted the tech part of the interview did say that I was a caundrum to him, because like a lot of people I did not apply myself to my college g.p.a the way I should have but my flight time and letters of rec were both very good. I have no idea of how I did on the 30 question tech quiz other than there were only maybe 3-4 that I had questions about. I'm hoping that if it doesn't work out this time I'll be lucky enough to be able to reapply in a few months. Like I said it's going to be a long week waiting to find out

uh are you serious, they ask for your college GPA? Wasnt that at least 10 years ago for most applicants??!

no they want your college transcripts if you went

Ash,

Would you mind sharing your intreview experience with us? I have one coming up in a month in NY. Just curious about your comment "the interview was not all that". Have they changed the format or type of questions they ask? Any advice you have for us who are interviewing soon would be appreciated.

oops yeah, that's what I meant. my grades werent so hot either.. :o:(

Sure, first of all let me say that I never said that the interview was not all that. What I said was that it was not what I had been expecting, and I mean that in the sense that for the tech part of it I did not get any of the questions of what airplane is this model, what do you know about that airplane, and real company history questions. We touched it briefly but not to the extent that I had preped for. I approached the interview with the mindset that I needed to know everything about everything. I had every significant date memorized, every type of airplane they'd ever operated, the profits, turnover, pass yield, cargo yield, everything off of the 2007 annual report and 2006 annual report down pat. It never really came up, one or two quesitons and that was it. Tech questions were a few on v1, critical engine on props and that kind of thing. The interviewers were extremely nice, and friendly, and it was a very relaxed atmosphere so far as a interview can be. To be honest with you I don't really feel like I impressed them at all. It just seemed to quick. I don't know if I just bombed the tech quiz, or maybe my g.p.a from college was not what they were wanting (b,c student). I'm hoping that I'm wrong, and I did better than I think. Guess I'll find out when I call them next week. I will tell you this, they are very, very good at controlling their opinion of how they feel about you. When I walked out the door, and even now I have no idea of what they thought of me. I'll post up more about it if anybody has any questions next week after I talk to them. I'm trying to keep it off my mind, since I have a whole week before I can find out anything, and it's kind of like christmas for a little kid the more I think about it the longer it seems to take for the time to pass