Fast-track promotion to Cathay captain taking off

Experienced Cathay Pacific first officers could be promoted to captain under an alternate mechanism so long as they have sufficient takeoff and landing experience.

First officers have in the past had to complete 4,000 hours of flying to receive training as captains. The hours have now been slashed to 3,000, but candidates must have operated at least 500 takeoffs and landings.

Cathay general manager of flying Tim Burns said yesterday the airline introduced the alternate mechanism for experienced first officers to be assessed and selected for admission to the Cathay Pacific captain upgrade training program after a proposal was submitted to the Civil Aviation Department and was accepted in November.

It is now a regular program for first officers to gain promotion.

"Our existing criteria of 4,000 hours of flying experience has not changed," Burns said. "However, we have an additional option, a minimum of 3,000 hours total time and 500 sectors, simply because short-haul pilots gain the required experience differently as they operate many more flight sectors per year."

So experienced first officers operating short-haul flights can be considered for command training to become a pilot "within a reasonable time," he said.

"For example, a short-haul pilot can accrue around 75 takeoff and landing experiences with only 225 flying hours, while a pilot operating long-haul routes generally requires nearly 900 flying hours to achieve the same number of takeoff and landing experiences.

"Pilots who operate wide-body aircraft on primarily longer flights are much more likely to meet the criteria for 4,000 hours before reaching the alternate criteria of 500 sectors. Conversely, short-haul pilots will take up more than two years longer to meet the old criteria," he added.

Burns also said the upgrade training program itself remains unchanged.

"We believe this course is one of the most demanding in the industry, and all pilots selected for the command upgrade program are rigorously trained and tested before they become qualified as a captain," he said.

"We are proud of and highly confident in every pilot who is successfully promoted to a Cathay Pacific captain."

But the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers' Association has earlier said lowering the requirement for first officers to become captains could not solve the airline's manpower shortage.

The association also said the airline does not have enough capacity for the upgrade training, which lasts for at least a year. As a result a number of qualified first officers have yet to be given the chance to be promoted.

But Burns said the association "did not play a role in determining the changes to the requirements, nor is it privy to the reasoning behind the changes or the timeline.

"The change process has taken place over a number of months and predates the schedule adjustments that have taken place over and since the peak holiday period."

wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com