Our people

Meet some of our Engineering Trainees and world-class Engineers.

Engineers who come through our Engineering Trainee Programme are supported to explore their interests and potential in a range of different disciplines and operational areas. Watch our video interviews to hear about some of the opportunities that have been offered to current and past Engineering Trainees.

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Sam Chen

Engineering Trainee

"Each Engineering Trainee is a assigned a mentor from senior management when they first join Cathay Pacific. The most valuable thing that my mentor taught me is the right attitude to deal with technical difficulties while working on aircraft, and their very complex systems."

Hear more from Sam

Sam applied for our Engineering Trainee Programme after discovering that many programmes offered by local engineering firms predominately involve consultancy work. At Cathay Pacific, Sam has been able to develop his skill set out on the front line, working on world-class aircraft and aviation technologies.

The rotation that Sam has enjoyed the most, to date, has been Maintenance Support, which allowed him the opportunity to work alongside experienced engineers and investigate, identify and solve a range of aircraft related issues. He finds great satisfaction in tackling new challenges every day, and in being responsible for finding solutions that return our aircraft to the sky.

Richard Xing

Technical Services Engineer

"The Engineering Training Programme offers very broad exposure, it covers all aspects of the airline engineering operation – such as how to manage the fleet systems technically, how to manage contracts with vendors and the leasing of aircraft, and how to physically carry out maintenance on the front line, and in different parts of the world."

Hear more from Richard

One of Richard’s first assignments as a qualified Cathay Pacific engineer was to travel to Madrid with the goal of assisting Airbus in developing its maintenance program for the next generation A350 aircraft. There he was able to have valuable discussions with Airbus design engineers and system specialists from different airlines across the world, which ultimately helped him to realise where his true passion lies – helping to shape aircraft of the future.

Richard recalls one of his favourite parts of the Engineering Training Programme as being the month that he spent conducting on-the-job training in Taipei, which allowed him to view our expansive operation from the front line of our biggest station. He credits the mentorship opportunities, extensive rotations and a well-defined career path for enabling him to develop the well-rounded skill set and successful engineering career that he has today.

Kent Wong

Cabin Engineering Manager – Development

"Cathay Pacific is one of the leading airlines in offering inflight entertainment. We were one of the first to provide in-seat television to all passengers across all classes, and we are now working with suppliers to expolore our offering."

Hear more from Kent

Kent has enjoyed a diverse and interesting career path since completing our Engineering Trainee Programme in 2002. His first role was as Assistant Engineer in Cabin Development, which involved implementing new inflight entertainment systems and monitors. Now as Technical Services Manager in Cabin Development, he spends his days working to ensure that all Cathay Pacific, Air Hong Kong and Dragon Air cabins are safe and functional.

One of the most exciting projects that Kent has contributed while at Cathay Pacific involved the development of inflight entertainment and implementation of Audio/Video On Demand technology across the fleet. When working on large-scale projects such as this, Kent values the way that everybody from third party suppliers to subject matter experts based overseas are willing to pitch in to solve problems and drive innovation.

Darryl Chan

Head of Engineering – Dragonair

"To succeed as a graduate engineer at Cathay Pacific you must have a passion for aviation and our work takes you across the world so you must be able to work in a team."

Hear more from Darryl

Darryl joined our Engineering Trainee Programme after spending two years as a Cathay Pacific engineering intern. Since then he has experienced an interesting and challenging career path – first moving around the business as a Cathay Pacific Engineer and then holding leadership roles within the Technical Services and Maintenance Planning teams. Today, Darryl enjoys overall responsibility for the safe and efficient operation of the Dragonair fleet.

Darryl believes that one of the greatest advantages that the Engineering Trainee Program offers graduates is access to modern aircraft and broad exposure to professional engineers, from both within Cathay Pacific and leading manufacturers such as Airbus and Rolls Royce.

Diamond Ho

Head of Cabin Engineering

"What I valued most about my ET experience was the opportunity to go to an outstation to work on the aircraft."

Hear more from Diamond

As the Head of Cabin Engineering, Diamond is responsible for the development and implementation of innovative products for new and existing aircraft. He credits the Engineering Trainee Programme for equipping him with the knowledge required to manage engineering work, teams and suppliers throughout his career, and to meet the challenges that he faces today. He also attributes it to providing him with valuable opportunities to learn from world-class engineers and to manage interesting projects such as the development of our Audio Visual On Demand system and Satellite communication installation onto the entire CX fleet.