I arranged through ASL to sit the Air Law exam in Houston at the NZ consulates office. They charge like $500 to admin the exam... so I inquired further with ASL to see if they would allow me to sit the exam at a local community college testing center (LoneStar College) and they told me that if I got information about the testing center and photos of the place where I were to take it, that they might approve it. I am working on getting that now. I will check back and let you know what I end up doing. -Ryan

 

Good Luck Aloha...hopefully you can save that 500$!! My testing has been going slower then I had hoped. I am trying to avoid taking all the tests but things are working out as quickly as I'd hoped.

I have not heard any news lately about Air NZ hiring trends. Keep us posted if you find out anything.

Cheers,
Tweet

 

Thing's have come to a halt for a while at Air NZ. There are quite a number of drivers on the books with yes letters and I'll try and find out exactly what you guy's are looking at.

On a different note, a buddy of mine left PacBlue for Jet* about five months back and is now looking at a command on the Bus out of CHC as he;s been told that there will be a few new captains slots advertised for that base in the near future. The pay is good, about the same as Air NZ, and through their CBA they have conditions close to Qantas; an example is staff travel that is pretty sweet. . . might be worth a look while you're waiting, but like I said I'll ask about Air NZ.

 

The hiring numbers, as I've been told, are 15 pilots per year for the next two years, then a ramp up close to the end of 2010. Around 50 pilots currently on 'yes' letters and apparently they are still interviewing; sticking to their strategy of retaining NZ pilot's for the mainline operation I reckon.

I still like Air NZ as the preferred employer in the country, but Jet Star is certainly worth the look as they have very good T&C's and with their long haul aircraft coming in an a year or two they could be quite a force out of NZ internationally. PacBlue and Jetconnect are also a pretty good place to get one's foot in the door, flying a jet and living here, although I'm not sure what the long term for Jetconnect is. QF says that they want to keep it as a connection with the outbound premium long haul product, and to keep the Qantas name going here.

If you are looking at Air NZ for the future I would not be too put off by the numbers on yes letters. When I was hired there were quite a few people who had been waiting for many months, and I snuck in in front of them. So, if the end of 2010 is what you had in mind as far as being ready to go to Air NZ then I think it looks pretty positive. Just my two cents though.

 

Thanks for the update Koru! Keeping the dream alive. Still in the pool for CS but have no idea when I will get started there. Hopefully soon so I can update my hours so I can avoid taking all the tests. Say hey to P. for us.

Cheers,
JD

 

Aloha - it seems I am at about the same place as you - I just submitted my residency application and now I'm trying to get the study material together for the Air Law Exam (seems like a lot for a 40 question paper!!)

Does anyone know if you have to have your log books/licence assessed by Aviation Services before you can take the Air Law Exam? I guess their assessment is only valid for one year - I don't really want to send my stuff and pay the fees if its going to expire before any chance of an interview with Air NZ (or do you have to have it done before applying?) Any thoughts on this?

I saw today Air NZ is making some redundancies - who knows whats going to happen with the economy - but anyway I'm still moving forward because I guess anything could happen.

S

 

I don't remember off the top of my head if ASL needs to look your logbook. I'd just give them a call and ask to be sure. They seemed to be helpful over the phone when I talked to them.

Bad news on the redundancies...hope that is just a rumor.

Cheers,
Tweet

 

there will not be any redundancies on the pilot end. The hiring numbers would have been up for next year had everything been a bit more stable, but as far as I understand there are still 15 new hires next year.

A large number of pilots are now beyond or well beyond 60, so if you are looking at the two year time line I mentioned before then great.

ASL did not do my log book assessment, just the CAA.

You will require a NZ commercial at least, and NZ residency to get an interview.

When are you heading down Tweet? I saw Mayfly in HKG last month. Tried to catch up with him when he had a night in Singapore a couple weeks ago but the SIA training schedule is not conducive to beers.

All the best to the family and P says hi.

 

Hey Koru - thanks for the info

Just want to check I've got things straight. I have my residency applic. submitted. Then I thought I needed ASL to assess my US licence and hopefully tell me I just need to sit the Air Law Exam. After that is done I thought I would be elligible for an interview (without the ATP practical)?

Also had a Q about Jet* - do you know the requirements - do you need to have an Aussie licence/ residency? Don't know how that would go for me as I'm married to a Kiwi. Would love to be based out of Christchurch - can you apply specifically for that base?

Thanks

S

 

Jet* have stopped all recruitment at the moment. Apparently they have no idea when it'll start up again.