Trojan65

Situation:

Live in Australia & am thinking of starting a new flight crew agency. Have spent a long time around the aviation industry(engineer/flight crew) & have placed around 30 pilots into Asian countries via informal relations with Management pilots in Asia

Aim:

Interested in formalizing a business & doing this properly. Doing the right thing by pilots & client airlines. Aim to start with smaller footprint from in some of the smaller Asian aviation countries , initially stay away from China/Japan/Korea

The Numbers:

1. HR industry

Discussed project with a few credible Recruiters in Aust (they survived the GFC , in legal / financial) areas. This is what they say about the numbers to make their businesses work , they take a % of between 20 to 30% of first year wage, this is paid in a lump sum. The % will get closer to 30% if the "job" is perceived as more difficult , ie: higher level job , placement overseas , more specialized tech skills etc. If the employee doesn't work out they will replace with no cost replacement

2. Flight Crew Agencies (FCA)

Say in Vietnam for example an agency would typically collect $500 per month per pilot they have placed , airline does all the admin (calculates hours / overtimes). If they FCA takes a more active role this rate will rise to $1000 per month(most don't).

So from this "metric" the FCA takes a long time to get the same % that the rest of the HR industry would use as standard % for a business to be solvent etc

Clearly if you are placing guys into LCC , they may well think after 12/18 months they would like to move to the "A List" ie: ME3 , Japan Air , China etc. So many guys will jump well before the three year contract expires , who could blame them , but it this would present a challenge for a business

The Key Challenge - Supply:

It seems the many of FCA & Airlines are playing a game of musical chairs trying to poach people from the ME to Asia or Vice Versa , or going to same old cities in Western Europe , North America , Australasia to do their various road shows etc.

Many of the growth Airlines have spent big dollars on their own cadetships etc , so trying to do the right thing but just been caught short with the rate of expansion

My personal view is that the first world is likely not the best source of flight crew anymore , as their own employment markets are quite strong , likely to only be tempted by "A List" employers in ME/Asia , and fairly skeptical about China.

Whereas taking someone from 2nd/3rd world , well in a lot of ways they have something more to play for , ie: crime at home & lower wages , & HK , Viet, etc really a much better lifestyle

Where would you find such people ?

My thinking is that you see a lot of Brazilians pilots in Asia/ME . But you seldom see many from Argentina/Chile/Peru/Colombia where many A320s are operated.

I am thinking this could be a good flight crew source for the Asian/ME market and perhaps has been ignored. Initial data indicates the wages for Capt (narrow) might be around $5K per month , but hard to get accurate data really. The airlines & FCA only occasionally seem to go to Brazil on recruitment drives , rest of South America seems largely ignored.

Questions:

1. The "metric" above regarding payment to FCA in Vietnam is quite accurate. Does anybody know what the numbers are ? , or approximate numbers in other countries ?

2. What are FCA doing wrong in terms of treatment of their pilots ? Is it lack of communication ? , just straight out dishonesty ? . This seems a tough one really as in many ways the FCA is just an "employer of convenience" to the airline, real power & decisions rest with the airlines. I guess the key is for the FCA to have strong & ongoing relations with the airline management pilots so that issues can be sorted quickly

3. It seems that many of the FCA want money for nothing , just list a whole lot criteria , come work for us "bobs your uncle , all sorted mate" etc. How many are really getting out & about looking for Pilots off the beaten track ? Or most just wanting "passive income" via the internet ?
Who are the best & why ?

4. Do you think the strategy outlined above makes any sense ? I am talking about doing multiple visits "in country" , having a serious go

Appreciate any ideas , this would be a good topic for a college paper I reckon