I have a few questions for any CX drivers on here. I recently got hired at Air Wisconsin and am going to class in a few weeks. I am currently 26 years old, my goal is to be at the company I want to retire at by the time I am 35. What are the right steps I need to take to get on at Cathay? It is a company I have always been interested in, and I feel like it would be a great company to end up at. How are ex-pat pilots treated there? I don't have a degree at this time, however it is in progress, is it a deal breaker if you don't have one? How is the QOL there? Are most American's based in the United States or is HKG pretty much a certainty with the job? Any info would be appreciated. This is still pretty far down the road, but I am just trying to gather information to better form my ultimate goals. Thanks.

CX does not really care about degrees so no need to worry about that. Ex-pats make up the large majority of pilots. They are treated pretty much the same as locals, except for housing allowances. As for Americans, there aren't that many Americans in CX but the majority are US based. There are also some based in HKG. A HKG basing is not required, however, for command upgrade you will have to return to HKG unless you want to wait "extra" looooong for a command on a base. If you are interested in joining CX just continue to update you application regularly and continue to build experience.

And don't forget memorize a lot of inane information not really related to your ability to operate an airplane for the interview!

Actually, I've heard if you can survive the interview and training it's a very good place to work.

CX has rather stringent medical standards. If your weight is not proportionate to your height they will let you know before the interview even starts. That happened to a guy I interviewed with. He was told this in front of everybody. Good luck.

From what I understand, there is no more 'expat' hiring. All the new joiners are being called "cadets" and are not getting housing. Even the experienced ones.

Thanks for the info guys! Like I said, I am pretty far from my next big step in my career, but its always good to have as much information as possible.

IMHO they are no different from any other airline, they want a clean record (flying, employment, and otherwise) and quality flying time/experience for your age. I think the best thing you can do is to travel the world and see how you like that. If you much prefer how things are done in the States then I wouldnt go there.

Also I wouldnt say expat and or Direct Entry FO or SO's hiring is dead. It is all dependent on growth, if they need bodies to fill seats the will look within and then out. We have a ton of planes on order so it wouldnt surprise me to see things change again and then again.

CX is looking to recruit 300 cadet entry pilots next year. In my opinion they will not get those numbers due to the lack of compensation once on line...not to mention zero salary while in Adelaide for 2 years (full ab initio program length).

Lots of airplanes on order: 10 747s, ~16 777s, 30 350s
Lots of airplanes going away :21 747s (PAX by 2016), 14 340s (plus 1 that is already parked in VCV), a couple of older 330s (6 with leases that expire between now and 2015), 3 more 747BCFs to Air China Cargo + potentially the balance of the 747BCFs (10) to Air Hong Kong and others.
Net gain (including potential BCFs leaving the fleet) between now and 2019 (when the last 350 is scheduled to arrive): 2

This being said, I also think that there will be an order to have airplanes delivered between the last 777-300ER to arrive (2013) and the first 350 arrival (2016, but EADS has already said delays are likely to the A350 program). CX has 14 more purchase options for 777-300ERs.

FO

CX will have no problem getting those numbers. They have 15000+ applicants for those slots.

Hi!

My buddy is expat, and in the pool for direct entry FO. He is now considering DE SO, as the FO slots seem not to be forthcoming. The big problem with DE SO (or Cadet, apparently) is no paid housing in HKG, and HKG is VERY expensive. It is also REALLY cool (except for the air pollution-no EPA in China).

cliff
GRB