kalyx522

ok, you are not being hired as a Korean like as in you're a Korean citizen because you're obviously not... you are being hired as a Korean in the aspect that you get same contract/pay as regular Korean pilots over there (as opposed to the expats.) To get very technical you are an expat but for Koreanair you are not being hired as an expat. It's a different set of qualifications/pay for regular Koreans and expats. Because you are of Korean ethinicity you get to apply under the lower minimums than a complete foreigner, but in return you won't get the higher pay/better contract that expats get. See the difference?

they never used to hire guys with this kind of criteria.. their pilots only came from Korean military, ab initio, or typed/experienced expats. now that the country has increased the military commitment to 15 years i heard that their pool has dried up somewhat and hence the opportunity for CFIs/regional pilots/etc who wouldnt normally fit into any of their applicant criteria. guys like you are unique because you can apply to koreanair this way, or later in life when you get more experienced you can also choose to apply to them as an expat.

also i dont think that they would care that you didnt serve since you are a US citizen. obviously it would be different if you were merely a green card holder in the U.S. but still was legally Korean citizen. I just heard today from the most recent round of interviews held this summer a few people got hired, including a Korean American (naturalized US citizen who had never served). I think most of the guys getting hired are Korean citizens who come over to the US to attend college/get their ratings and have been working as CFIs in the U.S. These guys HAVE served... but like I said there are US citizens getting hired as well.
the application website does require the Korean citizen number, but you can get around to it somehow I think you should contact the recruiting dept directly for that. at least one person i know (Korean born in Canada) was able to apply and later get an interview.

ysslah

kalyx, are you a riddle guy? One of my colleague, who is also my personal friend just got the offer to start the class in Sept. It's crazy how it takes them almost 2 years to be cleared to be a line FO. At any rate, I also know a Korean Canadian dude who got an interview; he wasn't so lucky.

kalyx522

yep, we are talking about the same guy then. i heard the same thing about their training, cant imagine going back to the schoolhouse for TWO years.

jimchi

hey guys. i'm in the same position as songman. I'm a korean-american and i'm currently flying the 744 from the right seat, yet pic typed. i remember being told i had to apply, if i was interested, via one of the contractors, but that was awhile ago. if that's not the case anymore, does anyone know the Korean Air pay scale for the natives/non-expats???
thanks

ysslah

jimchi, pm me with your email address, i'll send you the expat 744 info sheet. it might not be the lastest, but it's sure a good place to start. FWIW, if you are already flying right seat on the 400, you don't wanna go the 'local way'. You sign a 10 year hitch, and will be paying back the loan you had to take out for the 'jet transition' course you will be taking during indoc. That brings down the amount of money you take home each month significantly from what i've been hearing. You also will be starting from the narrow body, and it's not like they have a history of fast upgrade for non military pilots anyway.

kimchekid

Some basic rules about any contract flying..... "make sure you join as a Captain."

KAL has no procedure in place to upgrade foreign F/Os off any fleet to the LHS. It has never happened in the past either. Even if a policy were to be introduced, you could expect the process to take something like 9-11 years. This is how long it generally takes a Korean to rise up from the 737, to the 777/747, and then come back to the 737 for his command.

The selection procedure is tough with a very high failure rate on the simulator (usually). KAL are very particular about procedures, and if you are offered a sim. evaluation listen very carefully to the check pilot who will tell you how he wants the profiles flown. Recently a large number of failures in the sim. were down to guys just not being able to fly a visual approach as they had been briefed.

The 777 is the fleet with the highest failure rate for foreign DEC's.

There is a long running dispute in place at the moment between the union, the company, and any past agreements on the number of foreign pilots that were to be "allowed" in the company. However the reality is, the company is choosing to continue it's expansion during this current global economic downturn, and it needs more pilots and not enough are coming from the Korean Air Force, or from the former Jeju Flying College (I forget what it's now called).

For those who are American citizens of Korean extraction. AFAIK they will not take you as a foreign pilot. I only know of one 737 F/O who is an American citizen of Korean descent and he is employed on local terms. If you are already typed on the 737 I don't know what your bond would be but can't imagine that they try to bond you for the $100,000 that they bond the ab initio guys. If you weren't already aware policy now is that all training is done on the 737, so all new local F/O's start on the 737, before moving on to their next type. And all command upgrades are now done on the 737. (In the past they also used the Airbus but not anymore).

Hope that there is some useful info' in there.

BELLCAPT

Good news for overseas Korean pilots.
From The Korean Times today. 30 Oct 2009
The government plans to permit dual citizenship to Koreans who have acquired another nationality. But, don't know if you're able to *****foot from the military service.
If you're female; then you have the upper hand.