Well fellow pilots...Can anyone tell me whats the latest's and greatest information about Cathay? I just received a email today for a interview in NYC in about a month.
Is everything online accurate about the interview process?

 

Jet fuel, are you interviewing for their SO position? If you don't mind me asking what's your time? I got an email today as well but she only asked me if I pass my ATP written. Good luck on your interview!

 

I have about 2K and Yes its for the SO Position.

 

Jet Fuel,

Best of luck to you! I'm assuming this is for an SO position and not a Cadet SO. The Cadet route is most likely NOT in your best interest.

I was in that same position many years ago (interviewing for SO), passed the first and was invited to the second interview in Hong Kong. Ended up with a different carrier and career path, and very happy about it. However, CX is one of the absolute best companies you could build a career with. They know what they are doing and they have plans that look decades into the future. Great place.

First suggestion, as I'm sure you'll hear, is get the book Handling the Big Jets, by D.P. Davies, an absolute must for a CX interview. You won't remember everything in it, but read it, and if/when the opportunity presents itself in the interview, let them know you have read it.

Learn as much as you can about Hong Kong, the cost of living there, the weather patterns, typhoon season and the formation of typhoons. Show up with a positive attitude and good luck.

 

Just an FYI....All new hires are for Icadet SO....they don't offer DESO or DEFO anymore....6+yrs as SO with no T/O or LDN. Threy will not type you, so after 6 yrs you will have the same amount time you have today. By far one of the worst T&C in the market....they will only give you HKG $10,000 for housing..Good Luck

 

Cloud Sailor,

Thanks for the info. I will get that book. This is a Second Officer Initial Interview, Second Officer Transition Training Programme.
I'm assuming its for a 2nd officer Position. I don't even know what Icadet, DESO or DEFO even means. Do you? I did read something on the net about 6 years training contract, but I have no clue. I meet the minimums so maybe that doesn't apply to me. I think the cadet program is for if you don't have 1,500 hours.
First I want to focus on the first Interview part 1 in NY.

Can I ask what kind of a different career path you took and why? Did you get through the 2nd interview in Hong Kong?

My Interview is in NY next month. Cathay sent me a email today saying the following
Interview with both Personal and Technical Questions (60mins)
Technical multiple-choice Questionnaire (30mins)

So I'm assuming no sim and CRM group test until Hong Kong?

There is so much info out there on Cathay that I'm just trying to find the most up to date information for the first portion of this interview.

Keep sending me more info if you have it. Thanks a lot!

 

uspilot,

I want to know more. You read above that I have a interview. I know there is three Second Officer entry programmes. But how do you know that I would be a icadet SO? Also what is a DESO?
Tell me more about this 6 yrs as SO? Also does no T/O or LDN mean?
What do you mean not type you? You are saying I act as a crewmember and don't log time? That's illegal no way. Also is the $10,000 housing yearly does that just pay for rent?

Help me out here I need more info

Thanks

 

My friend...the training contract does apply to you...it apply to everyone under the new term...you might want to check out PPRuNe Forums - Professional Pilots Rumour Network you will find some good and some bad indo there...

If you have no experience you will join as a cadet.
If you have some flying time under your belt such as a CPL/IR you will join as a cadet.
If you have a couple of thousand hrs in GA you will join as a cadet.
If you have 3 space shuttle missions and 20 yrs experience as Capt on a widebody you will join as a cadet.

It's not about experience, it's about paying you less. That's a fact.

 

I just read that all Second Officers are based in Hong Kong and Cathay gives you a loan if you don't have the money and gives you 6 years to pay it off. So we call it a Training Contract. 6 years that's a long time.

I also read that the icadet program is only for low time pilots with less than 250 hours in category. Well what do they consider low time. I have almost 2k hours and worked for the airlines and corporate.

USPilot are you sure they will put all the new hires in the cadet program. I also ready that if you do the cadet program you are based in Australia. Is this true also?

 

I was able to jump in the Direct Entry SO (DESO) pool in 2008. Ever since I've had 3 different compensation packages in front of me. Earlier this year, after 3 years swimming, I declined.

First offer was the "original", with full housing allowance (starts off @HK$24,000/mo, with gradual increases eventually up to ~HK$100,000/mo for captains), which made CX a very lucrative company to work for. Unfortunately, this package was the last sigh of the good ol' times.

After the global financial crisis, CX withdrew the original offer, and came back with a "reduced" offer, the same entry level cadet package that was offered to locals/HKG nationals - no housing allowance, at all. Once the market improved (CX made close to 1 billion USD in profit last year) CX came back and offered the package that is now on the table for all cadets (no more DESO scheme). One could argue that the current "improved" package with HK$10,000/mo "pilot allowance" is a direct result of the rumored acceptance rate of no more than 1 out of 60 DESO poolies taking the cadet offer at the time.

If you join CX with prior airline experience, you'll be on the short/accelerated cadet course. All cadets are granted a HK$1.1m loan out which your training will consume appx. HK$220,000 (zero-to-hero candidates will have used up all of their "loan" for their training). The rest, HK$880,000 is yours to keep as long as you serve a minimum of 6 years. Though initially it seems like a considerable boost to compensation, I can't help but to view it as nothing else than a bond.

As goes with any airline that you might join where you are on the new wave of lowered compensation/terms, you may question yourself why are you doing the same job for 40-50% less pay than your peers who joined just a few years earlier. This may, or may not, bother you in the end, as we all have different financial responsibilities and expectations.

I used to hold CX in high regard, with very high standards for hiring, training, equipment and so on. Most of it still stands, yet I can't say my 3 years swimming didn't leave a bitter taste in my mouth. In my opinion, for a pilot with prior airline experience, who would have to move to HKG for a minimum of a decade, CX's original compensation package was the only acceptable one; anything less than it, and you are haggling with a used-car salesman.

Know your worth.


edit:

1) yes, ALL candidates will be on the cadet track, regardless of prior level of experience. Only difference is the course length and loan amount at hand after training.

2) You will not be fully typed in the aircraft i.e. if you try to find a job beyond CX, very few int'l airlines will honor your SO flight hours; none in the U.S. You are not performing takeoffs nor landings, but only pilot-monitoring-duties at cruise at higher altitudes - you are a "cruise relief pilot".

3) HK$10,000 per month is an allowance to offset some of your rent/mortgage. However, it is not adequate to provide housing. Assuming you are used to an average US/EU lifestyle, you will pay around HK$25,000-30,000/month MINIMUM for a studio/1BR apartment in HKG.

4) Latest I know, ALL cadets will go to HKG. You will upgrade to Jr. FO in HKG. Once bases open, you are allowed to bid to your base of choice (US/EU/OZ) based on seniority - how quickly you may ask? Pick a number.