Cathay Pacific marks first batch of cadet pilots from in-house training program

Cathay Pacific recently celebrated the graduation of its latest batch of cadet pilots who completed the Cadet Pilot Training Program. 

This is also the first group of cadet pilot graduates to receive in-house ground theory training at the airline’s own Cathay Academy. 

The batch of 34 cadet pilots also underwent flight training at AeroGuard Flight Training Center in Arizona and Multi Crew Cooperation (MCC) training in flight simulators with Cathay Academy before graduating from the program. 

The airline said that since their graduation on May 16, 2025, the cadet pilots have joined Cathay Pacific as second officers and have started flying duty. There are currently more than 500 cadet pilots in training as part of the Cathay Pacific Cadet Pilot Training Program.

“Developing aviation talent has always been a priority for Cathay. Our Cadet Pilot Training Program provides us with world-class aviators, many of whom have gone on to hold senior training positions with us, as well as key flying leadership roles,” said Cathay Chief Operations and Service Delivery Officer, Alex McGowan. 

“Today’s graduation carries special significance as it marks our first group of cadet pilots to go through our very own Cathay Academy ground school, including Multi Crew Cooperation training in our simulators. This enables us to ensure the highest quality training, get closer to our future pilots, and enrich their overall experience. It also expands our ability to develop future generations of aviation talent locally,” McGowan, who was also present at the graduation, added.

Cathay Pacific currently operates multi-path integrated courses for training its cadet pilots, including courses developed with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and its in-house Cathay Academy. 

Each course sees cadets first undertake theoretical ground training, then flight training, either at AeroGuard Flight Training Center in Arizona or Flight Training Adelaide in Adelaide, followed by multi-crew simulator training, also developed by Cathay Academy, at the airline’s Cathay City headquarters in Hong Kong.

Cathay Pacific’s Cadet Pilot Training Program was launched in 1988. Graduates of the programme include 185 captains, more than 40 of whom are training captains. The airline also has seven management pilots who originated from the program.

Since 2022, Cathay’s Cadet Pilot Training Program has provided training for more than 1,000 cadet pilots. 

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