Cathay Pacific is celebrating today the graduation of the first group of cadet pilots since the pandemic. Having completed the 55-week Cadet Pilot Training Programme, the 19 graduates will join the airline as Second Officers from July 2023.
On Tuesday (June 27, 2023), Cathay Pacific announced the graduation of their first cadet pilots since the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Having competed the 55-week Cadet Pilot Programme, the 19 graduates will join the carrier as Second Officers from July 2023. Cathay Pacific currently has over 400 cadet pilots in training. As of June 2023, more than 1,000 Cathay Pacific pilots are graduates of the airline’s Cadet Pilot Training Programme. This includes 185 Captains, of which over 40 are Training Captains.
In Tuesday’s announcement, Cathay Pacific’s Chief Customer and Commercial Officer, Lavinia Lau, said,
“Developing aviation talent has always been at the heart of who we are as Hong Kong’s home carrier. This programme has given us numerous success stories, has helped us cultivate outstanding pilots within the industry, and is a testament to our commitment to develop our future aviation professionals.
“This is our first Cadet Graduation Ceremony since the pandemic and we are excited to be celebrating it with everyone who has been instrumental in helping our cadet pilots reach this milestone in their lives. Our sincere appreciation goes out to the Transport and Logistics Bureau and Civil Aviation Department for their unwavering support.
“Today is made even more special as the month of June coincides with the 35th anniversary of our Cadet Pilot Training Programme. To all our graduating cadet pilots who spent long hours of studying and training to get where they are today – congratulations to all of you and I want to acknowledge all the hard work and determination you have shown in your training, despite the pandemic.”
In addition to 250 cadet pilots recruited in 2022, Cathay Pacific intends to recruit over 800 cadet pilots in 2023 and 2024 combined. The carrier currently operates two parallel courses for training cadets. Today’s group of 19 graduates completed their training as part of the airline’s original, long-standing programme hosted by Flight Training Adelaide (FTA). The company has also developed a new integrated course to expand training opportunities. The first group of cadets in the integrated programme, developed with Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and more recently their own in-house Cathay Academy, are expected to graduate in August 2023. The integrated course includes theoretical ground training in Hong Kong, flight training at AeroGuard Flight Training in Arizona or FTA in Adelaide, and multi-crew simulator training at Cathay City. During 2023, a total of 177 cadet pilots are expected to graduate from both programmes.
Source: Cathay Pacific