Well SO mins are 1000, you think I would need more than 1600 to be competitive?

Also, how much actual flying does the SO get to do? Do you ever get to land?

How much 'flying'? You keep the heading bug centered for 4 hours at a time. The nice part....you pretty much get paid to do nothing...you don't even do walkarounds....the bad part(if you actually enjoy flying) is you don't do any flying.

So, wait, let me get this straight. If you get hired at Cathay, you can't jumpseat in the US?

Yeah, thats the downside. The promise of travel attracts me, as does the pay, and I think living in Hong Kong would be really cool, but I do like to fly, I mean to the point that if I don't get to I start to suffer withdrawal symptoms, lol. Although with my student loans I will pretty much go anywhere that pays decently.

How the heck do you stay proficient that way? Lots of time in a simulator between trips? Also how long to FO upgrade? Like two years?

Cathay SOs "get" to enjoy a simulator training session every 2 months to keep their skills up and a check ride once every 6 months to renew your license.

1000 hours for DESOs, yes that is true, but it also says that preference will be given to multi time and turbine experience. The day I started with Cathay as an FO, all of the SOs that day had either RJ command time or Boeing or Airbus time.

Good luck, I say apply anyway and keep it updated.

FO

yeah competitive for SOs are 4-6k i'd say

That is correct. :cool:

To any Cathay Drivers out there,
I have got the final interview for an FO position coming up. During the first interview I said I would accept an SO position, but FO was my first choice. After thinking about and researching it a little more, I have changed my mind and would rather do the SO job. Is this something I could bring up at the interview or would reversing myself be frowned upon? Does anybody know what the hiring numbers are looking like? Are they looking to hire more SOs or US based freighter fleet FOs?
Also, what did you do on the day of arrival? I was told to pick up my visitor pass the first day of the interview. Does this mean they don't want me prowling around Cathay City the day prior? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

3holer

Any Cathay drivers live in the Phoenix Metro area? If you do I'll buy you lunch if you let me pick your brain a little.

If you were hired in US for freighter ops, is there anything wrong with staying in that forever? Vs going to pax eventually (and going overseas)?

Does the Pax flying pay that much more?