Badgeman

I was looking at the Cathay hiring website and I found all kinds of pay scales for first officers, senior first officers and captains. It even mentioned the housing allowance for second officers, but I couldn't find the actually starting pay for second officers. Anyone got the goods?

Sioux115

I just got back from the interview and I truly don't remember ever seeing a salary scale for SO. All the unofficial research I've done has come up with is 50,000 plus flight hour pay and housing allowance which is roughly an extra 3,000/mo. Maybe if I get offered the job I will recciecve more info to share. I can't believe there aren't any SO's chiming in.

Badgeman

It's the weekend. They will. Give'm time. Thanks for the info so far. They play the SO payscale cards very close to their chests, don't they.

rickB

is it pretty hard scoring an interview for SO there? what types of time and in what aircraft do they like to see?

stoki

Also, what does an SO really do anyways? How about logging time? How long is upgrade to normal F/O??

Also, as an SO I imagine you get fully trained to the level of a normal F/O or Capt? Or is it half-assed training?

KoruPilot

Training is the same but you get a P2X rating at CX. Basically, you can't use the rating anywhere else. The only reason really is to keep you from leaving as far as I can see.

A good friend just finished his IOE on the B777. He spent just shy of four years as an SO, but he was on bypass pay for, I believe, about a year of that.

The SO thing at CX is not so great. We compared what we did, as I was an SO at Air NZ, and I know the QF score as well. He said that they never flew below cruise, never had a command practice leg etc., but were expected to shine in the sim. At Air NZ, the SO's get command practice legs (all flight planning decisions, fuel decisions, cockpit set up and all briefing's less the OPT performance) and can fly until transition or 10K. Most guy's hand fly, so you do get hands on. My friend at CX said that would be unheard of there. Plus he was not in the least impressed with the general attitude on the B744, so try to get the 777-3000.

I'll ask about pay scales. I can say that he did about 50K in HKD per month for housing, so that is good.

SD3FR8DOG

390 odd thousand HKD i believe.... which works out to around 65k USD.

S/O's at other airlines earn nearly double that, hence they are recruiting yankees!

mpflis

65K.....that would be an desirable currency exchange rate. try dividing by 7.8!!! and not sure of which airlines you speak of that pay double that to start as an SO? FO's at CX don't even make that in their base salary, nor senior FO's. CX is recruiting yanks, kiwis, poms, aussies, euros....and I can guarantee you that with an unfavorable exchange rate, they wouldn't get many poms, and euros if the salary was half of "other airlines". As far as current time for SO upgrade, it is approx 2.5 years.....but likely to increase again due to hiring of DEFO on the 777, and Oasis/Dragon debacle. And yes, I was a SO, and started bypass pay after appox 2 years. As far as the SO job in general, it is amazing that people say its not a good time....obviously these people need to find more to their life than flying. Lots of time off, reasonable pay (great pay if you take advantage of the housing), and very little stress. Who cares about command legs, and training when commands are approx ten years away. Anyone with any experience coming in (ie not cadets) has more than enough hours to appreciate the job and minimum sectors. base pay is approx 50, 56, 63K for the first three years....then add hourly duty, 13th month, profit share, extra hours, per diem, provident fund (some of which are discretionary, and depend on the month...so not possible to give a definite figure). Then you have housing which is approx 4K/month currently (first 2 years...then double that). I'm not going to give a figure that estimates total year pay, but if you add everything up, I guarantee that its allows a more than reasonable existence. As far as time to get an interview, I had ~4000 hours, as well as the majority of people I went through training with, but have met others that had around the 2500-3000 mark. I would bet it is currently quite competitive considering the state of the airline industry.

Badgeman

So really it looks like what was supposed to be a position for pilots leaving their CFI jobs or island hopping in a Islander, is now becoming the domain of the US. regional bail-out. I mean the requirements say 1000TT and a passed ATP written. But it looks like unless you made the evening news in a dramatic aerial rescue, with 1000TT and a freshly passed ATP, you aint get'n this job?

mpflis

Once upon a time, this job was for the CFIi, like yourself.....14 years ago, when those minimums were published, and the job was a 2 year contract, and you didn't get any seniority on the CX list, and you got just enough housing to slum it, and the wage was enough only to attract this type of candidate....yes you're absolutely right. Once upon a time, you could get hired at United, as a flight engineer on the 727, with less than 1000 hrs....and if you had a pair of ta tas, with even less....just before 9/11 you only needed a commercial license, and once airlines even paid for your training.....see the pattern!!! Once people turned down offers at Fedex, UPS, Southwest to go to the legacy carriers. So you answer your response, minimums and qualifications changes with the environment and available pilots on the market. And minimums don't mean very much when competitive forces are in effect, except the ability for a low time pilot to show some interest, or for silver bullets/son's and daughter's politics to work. Even with all of the turmoil in the USA, US pilots remain the heavy minority.....it just so happens that more legacy/regional pilots are looking for a job, and CX is still hiring, so more are applying. Hopefully they only hire those who understand the idea of reasonable compensation and benefits, and not those who are only willing to fly shiny jets because its better than their 152 or current regional. That is not to say it takes loads of experience, but once you upgrade, and your flying regionally around asia, with 300 pax on board, in inclement weather, I'm sure most would want more than a 1000 hr ex duchess instructor. Apart from that, in times like these, obviously experience should work in your favor.