Get Your CV Ready For China Pilot Hiring Boom
11-26-2014, 04:35 AM
#61
Banned
Joined APC: Jul 2010
Position: 737 NG CAPT.
Posts: 216
Originally Posted by AmericanIdiot#1
Flying a 1000 hours a year for a lifetime career? In China? Guess you need to ask yourself the ubiquitous question. Do you live to work or work to live?
Regarding the medical and ATP, I doubt much will change in the near future. The ATP written is actually not too difficult if you prepare well. Remember the European ATP requires 14 tests and 15 months to accomplish. The medical is driven by the CAAC docs being tied to the military standards. When you accomplish a medical in China think of what a new pilot recruit will undergo during a military flight physical and you are on target.
11-29-2014, 08:03 PM
#62
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,067
Originally Posted by EXPAT1
It can definitely be hard work but the reward can also be high, its all what you're willing to accomplish. If you can gut out 1 or 2 contracts here you can pay off the mortgage, save for the kids college, build up a nest egg and be well established towards retirement. Many commuting contracts offer contracts which are actually quite efficient flying. You can do 900-950 hours and still get 2 weeks off consecutively every 6 weeks.
Regarding the medical and ATP, I doubt much will change in the near future. The ATP written is actually not too difficult if you prepare well. Remember the European ATP requires 14 tests and 15 months to accomplish. The medical is driven by the CAAC docs being tied to the military standards. When you accomplish a medical in China think of what a new pilot recruit will undergo during a military flight physical and you are on target.
Regarding the medical and ATP, I doubt much will change in the near future. The ATP written is actually not too difficult if you prepare well. Remember the European ATP requires 14 tests and 15 months to accomplish. The medical is driven by the CAAC docs being tied to the military standards. When you accomplish a medical in China think of what a new pilot recruit will undergo during a military flight physical and you are on target.
I failed the CAAC medical in Beijing, but passed it in Chengdu. I failed in Beijing because I had PRK eye surgery and I was supposedly just outside their pre-surgical limits for allowing the surgery. In the Southwest CAAC region I was just fine. I had another friend who failed in Beijing for heart issues, but passed it in Chengdu as well. I know of one guy who failed it in Chengdu but passed it three weeks later in Shanghai. It is a crap shoot.
They also find things that you do not have. I know one guy failed his recurrent medical because they claimed he had a stroke. He went back to the States and was given a clean bill of health, finding no evidence whatsoever of a stroke. Another friend failed his medical due to "heart problems". His doctors is Sweden gave him a clean bill of health just a few weeks later, finding absolutely no issues with his heart.
My advice when considering China is to have a back-up plan in place and get a good loss of license insurance to cover you in case you fail a medical here.
11-30-2014, 06:46 AM
#63
Line Holder
Joined APC: Nov 2009
Position: NGSKIP
Posts: 26
When I was doing my Chinese Medical, the doctor, and I have to stress that, not a nurse, not a medical technician, the doctor was watching a video on her iphone istead of paying attention to her monitoring equipment. What I am trying to say is that they treat the pilot medicals like a conveyor belt, in a lot of cases they dont even pay attantion to whats going on.
11-30-2014, 03:58 PM
#64
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,067
Originally Posted by ADSky
When I was doing my Chinese Medical, the doctor, and I have to stress that, not a nurse, not a medical technician, the doctor was watching a video on her iphone istead of paying attention to her monitoring equipment. What I am trying to say is that they treat the pilot medicals like a conveyor belt, in a lot of cases they dont even pay attantion to whats going on.
01-07-2015, 10:04 PM
#65
Banned
Joined APC: Nov 2014
Posts: 309
Originally Posted by NEDude
The IRS is going after all expats, pilot or not. U.S. tax and banking laws are killing the ability of Americans to even function outside of the United States. My wife and I just got caught up in the mess too. We were in the process of buying a house when our bank decided they would not work with us simply because I am American and it would require too much paperwork and leave them vulnerable to draconian fines and penalties if they made a mistake. In the view of the U.S. government, any American who dares leave the country for any reason is an unpatriotic tax cheat and must be viewed with suspicion. If my wife and I ever want to buy a house, we either have to move her and the kids out of their home country, or I have to renounce my U.S. citizenship. Neither are pleasant options. Anyway if you do decide to work overseas be ready for a mountain of tax paperwork. And do not count on being able to do much, if any, banking overseas as many foreign banks are severely limiting services to U.S. citizens. Several U.S. banks have even closed U.S. citizens bank accounts if they see large transactions, or too many transactions, occurring overseas. So be careful even if you keep your money in the states and just draw money out at the ATM to cover your overseas expenses. This stuff you read about, banking problems and IRS audits, are really happening. PS- Earlier this year China signed an agreement to comply with the FATCA and FBAR laws, so no hiding your money in China if you were thinking about doing so.
I've managed to get the income tax exclusion plus the cost of living and never had to pay anything
I've married a chinese girl who is without a doubt the best woman I have ever met. And yes I'm divorced.
Life is NOT easy here. They have pollution, horrible drivers and ZERO common sense
I have a few more years left here on my second contract and then I'm going home, job or not
01-08-2015, 08:26 PM
#67
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2010
Posts: 977
Originally Posted by RMWRIGHT
i have sent cpa beijing a pm and they never bothered to reply... lets see if there is a pilot shortage..... i offer the following: holder of licenses atp single and multi engine land and sea faa , atpl canada and philippines multi engine land . type rated pic a320 b737 no limitations on atp license or ratings. flight dispatcher faa , flight instructor multi and instrument airplane faa, ground instructor advanced and instrument faa, have passed flight engineer turbojet and flight navigator faa knowledge exams, commerical glider faa, secret security clearance usa, tsa twic , r/telephone licenses usa/canada/philippines, small arms training, train the trainer, ditching, tesl, 1st class medicals, speak a number of languages, us and canadian passports, permanent resident visa chile, argentina, UK and philippines, all who shots , driver licenses etc etc so there you go , i have been sending out resumes for months and no luck (pilot shortage ?) ! if you are a recruiter who wants to offer me a real solid job please PM me and i will give you my phone number. apf members i will revert in 7 days with my results
01-09-2015, 11:42 AM
#68
Don't say Guppy
Joined APC: Dec 2010
Position: Guppy driver
Posts: 1,926
The Chinese hire many expats over 45. In my experience, most were over 45. Over 50 and the medical goes from stupid to really really stupid.
There are lots of jobs and if it works out for you, you can make a lot of money. But there are a lot of downsides as well.
There are also a lot of upsides.
There are lots of jobs and if it works out for you, you can make a lot of money. But there are a lot of downsides as well.
There are also a lot of upsides.
01-18-2015, 02:22 PM
#69
New Hire
Joined APC: Jan 2015
Position: B737 Capt.
Posts: 2
Good Day Gents.
I'd be interested in hearing from any Canadian expats working in China. I'm considering taking a leave to work a contract abroad. If any Canadians would like to share their experience and advice I would be happy to listen. I have 6500 TT, 1000 b737 TT and 500 b737 PIC. I've seen plenty of job posts via a multitude of recruiting agencies, but would like some insight from someone 'in the know' before committing to anything.
Fod
I'd be interested in hearing from any Canadian expats working in China. I'm considering taking a leave to work a contract abroad. If any Canadians would like to share their experience and advice I would be happy to listen. I have 6500 TT, 1000 b737 TT and 500 b737 PIC. I've seen plenty of job posts via a multitude of recruiting agencies, but would like some insight from someone 'in the know' before committing to anything.
Fod
Last edited by blahfod; 01-18-2015 at 02:23 PM. Reason: stupid autocorrect
01-18-2015, 07:52 PM
#70
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jan 2014
Position: Yellow Bus
Posts: 355
It's Asia...read the news lately... lots of incidents happening from their low skill pilots. They'll realize the need for qualified expats soon enough when the tourist market dries up because no one wants to fly on those airlines.
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