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High flying aspirations

For the very first time Cathay Pacific has sent a recruitment team to India for hiring second officers. The airline that is recruiting 300 pilots annually promises long-term career development path to high potential candidates. By Sudipta Dev

To keep pace with its growth plans Cathay Pacific has a target of recruiting 300 pilots annually for the next two years. A high level recruitment team was in Mumbai recently to do the first phase of screening of 77 second officers from India. It is for the very first time that the airline is doing recruitment for flight crew in India.Till recently Cathay Pacific has been majorly hiring from the traditional markets, mostly Commonwealth countries like the UK, Australia and Canada, besides of course Hong Kong nationals. In fact 43 nationalities have been working as flight crew with the airline. “In India we see a great number of very well qualified candidates. Essentiallly we chose to come at this time as as we had many applications from Indian nationals. They have been writing to us constantly though we have never advertised for the positions. We have looked at the best applications and have called them,” says Captain Paul Gunnel, deputy chief pilot (Airbus), Cathay Pacific.

The airline has three streams for the recruitment of second officers – those with with no previous experience (this is only Hong Kong ID card holders); advanced entry (having commercial pilot license and 250 hours flying time); and transition training entry ( air transport pilot license and 1500 flying hours). From India this time recruitment is being done for the advanced entry stream. The recruitment team have been interviewing six people every day and those who pass the initial screening will be contacted for the second stage of selection. The first phase involves three aspects – technical paper, reasoning test and an interview. All the positions are Hong Kong based. “We will take as many proven suitable. It is important to stress that it is not a competition, those selected must meet our standards,” says Gunnel, pointing out that following the recruitment team's return to Hong Kong they will take a call on whom to call for the second stage. “We offer a package that is competitive for the candidates we seek and we offer a full career in aviation,” he adds.

Training and development

All pilots hired by Cathay Pacific go to Australia following their selection and depending on their experience there are three different training packages. The training programme in Australia is funded by the company. “After training they will get their Hong Kong pilot license and second officer training in Hong Kong. The second phase of the training is for two months,” mentions Gunnel.

The airline is committed to career development of all its personnel and therefore wants to hire only those second officers who possess command potential. The career path from a second officer to first officer and finally a Cathay Pacific captain is what the company envisages for them at the time of recruitment. For second officers who show excellence at work it takes about three to five years to become first officers and then another five to six years to reach the position of commander and captain.

While technical skill is a key criteria for selection the recruitment experts look at other important aspects as well. “We are looking at them to be commanders so we want candidates who are motivated to be with us. They should be disciplined professionals who have a passion for aviation. They should be willing to work hard to get where they want to be,” says Gunnel.

For an airline that has a flight crew from 43 different countries one of the most significant factors is the cosmopolitan mindset of candidates. “A cockpit is a claustrophobic environment and to work in close contact with people from so many different nationalities and cultures it is essential for them to have a cosmopolitan outlook to be able to work in that environment,” states Gunnel.

For an industry that constantly goes through ups and downs, Gunnel points out that Cathay has been good at weathering the storms and promises to meet long term career aspirations of its personnel.

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