aupilot,
i'm not sure what you're making but CX has one of the best payscales out there. first year salary + per diem + 401k equivalent you're looking at about 96k gross first year FO. I heard a second year FO filed his W2 with a gross of 110k for the year. not too shabby... yes sounds like a lot of commuters out there, buying zeds or full fare to get to work. that's your only option unfortunately.

and no you need a ATP for coversion to HK license for FO...

but that's not with the new payscale, is it?

this is what I found for the new payscale for cathay pacific
http://img179.imageshack.us/my.php?i...tescopyqd9.jpg
so if that is accurate then 74000 + say 6000 in per diem + 401k match at say 11000 (15.5% of pay) then you've got $91000 for a first year guy. If you spend say $500 a month on commuting and crash pad then you'd still bring in $85000 for a first year guy.

Last year I made $184,000 plus $20,000 from the company in our B fund. That is why I was wondering what the upgrade time is for the freighter in the U.S. Looking at the new payscale once I upgraded would be making the same or more than at AirTran. Anyone know what the upgrade expectations are?

Aupilot,

Getting to the left seat at CX requires a level of hoop-jumping not required here in the US; Every training event is recorded and goes into your file for review at a later date, so a "bad day" can come back to haunt you. You have to assessed as suitable to pass the course before they'll allow you to upgrade and the whole system seems to be extremely political. I've heard of some outstanding guys that would have made great captains but were not passed because they were deemed to be "not CX captains".

One mate of mine who's been in the left seat at CX for the past 15 years, will tell you, that to fail your command course at CX is a "monkey on your back" that you will carry for the rest of your career there.

I'm not CX but I'm sure the CX guys will correct any of what I said.

all right so 96k is a little ambitious, but there is 6% raise in june so salary first year is 78-79k

yeah apparently you can go for quick upgrade within a couple years of joinining on the freighter but apparently only 1 person has ever passed

having said that i wouldn't move if i were in your shoes aupilot

That rumor is not true concerning the freighter early commands. It was true when the company tried to hire directly into the CA seat on the Classic out of Manchester. There is no way that I could see anyone off the street coming in and passing "the Cathay way" along with learning the airplane to a CA standard.

That said, I fly with guys all the time that went for the freighter command in 2-4 years and passed. This could all change though as the company is looking at possibly integrating the fleets so there would not be any designated freighter Captains. That would move the upgrade further down the road.

aupilot,
If you eventually went to Hong Kong you would make a lot more than Airtran. If you want to stay in NA, you would have to do the comparisons. On top of the payscale we get a few others like flight duty pay etc. that aren't much but do end up adding another few hundred bucks a month. A friend of mine is a 12 year CA on the freighter and all in he made just over $250K in 2007. It is up to you to decide why you want to leave Airtran. If it is purely monetary then it will take you time to make up the lost income in starting over. If there are other reasons then it may be worth it.

One more that I forgot, I don't count left over allowances in the salary. That, for me, is about $700 per month. We don't get per diem per se, we get an allowance based on someone actually looking at meals etc. on the overnight. For example, in ANC our allowance for a 24 hour period is about $134 or more depending on what time you get in. I can't eat $134 worth of grub in one day so I take home lots of leftovers. The allowance is paid in cash at the hotel so no need to go to the ATM for local currency if you go somewhere else.

thanks for the info. From comparing that with the (older?) payscale on APC, it looks like the captain and senior captain got a raise, the senior FO pay stayed pretty much the same, and the FO pay took a sizable cut.

I know there is no longetivity at CX.. like if a year 7 FO upgraded to captain, he would start over at year 1 captain pay. Is that true for the "senior" positions as well? For example, if you were an FO and you became a Senior FO, do you start over at Year 1 Senior FO pay?

I think you need to ask yourself why you would want to leave a very well paying job, where(it sounds like) you are based at home? At CX, you will initially take a pay cut that WILL take a few years to get back to. Infact i think it would take alot of years to get back to. Plus, there are guys that have been here a while still waiting on ATL. Unless, you are convinced your current employer is going out of biz or something I'd be careful. Anyway, go to the interview....your looking at approx one year from first interview to class if your successful so you will have PLENTY of time to decide. Good luck.

PS...if you do get it, and get based at home, it is very nice.

FO and Senior FO are essentially the same. You spend 4 years as an FO and then automatically become a Senior FO. The hourly duty pay is more for the SFO and you are also on higher pay.

FO