Copa
 

I'm a 737NG captain set to retire this January and feel lucky to have an interview lined up with COPA next month. If anyone has any useful information about that airline it sure would be appreciated if they could pass it on. How about what to expect during the interview? And what's it like living in Panama City? I went to Belk's today and bought a new, dark blue suit. The girl who sold it to me was friendly so I asked her where she was from and she said, "Panama." I was speechless :eek: so she continued "you know, right next to Costa Rica." "Um, where the canal zone is???" For a second I thought Rod Serling was going pop up right behind the counter. Don't know it that was a good omen or a bad one. Anyway, thanks in advance to anyone who has time to write in.

I was down in Panama in 2001-2002 flying as a training captain for Aeroperlas. A number of the guy's I trained are now with COPA as FO's. They are all great guy's and quite easy to get along with.

Panama itself is fantastic. My wife, also a pilot, and myself looked at moveing down there but unfortunately did not. . .long story.

The city is coming along really well as a modern metropolis. It's a bit like a central American Dubai, but everybody speaks Spanish. The lifestyle is great, fantastic restaurants and bars; Casca Viejo and the area around the French embassy are a gas. The beaches are great and the people are friendly. You'll get along easily but let me know if you want an introduction and I'll forward the email address of a very good friend of mine, Columbian, who is an FO there. It helps if you speak Spanish though. He might have some insight into the interview process as well.

Good luck with it mate, you're going to love it.

I've never heard anything but great thing about living down there. I only hear it is the next place to go in Central America, if you know what I mean.

How did you hear about the job?

Panama is hot...but Costa Rica is hotter due to it's women!!!

ps> do you have a specific pref for Panama? Didn't know if you hit 60 or something.

If age 60 is why your retiring, SpiceJet, Air India/Indian/Air India Express, and Jet seem to be hiring NG captains up to age 65 via contract agencies. Pretty sure all of them offer good commuting options (esp AI and Jet since they've got int'l ops). I've also seen a few awesome-looking BBJ jobs out there for people with your experience level. Not sure what you're lookin for.

How did you hear about the job?

AGE60.com

Thanks for the info, nicholasblonde. I'd certainly be interested in BBJ jobs if I knew where they were. I like COPA because I think Panama would be a great fit for me. But if I don't get on, however, I'm still going to need a paycheck starting this January (age 60). Thanks again to everyone who's writing in.

AT,

I've spent a good deal of time on mil deployments in Panama, flying all over C and S America; what you're reading from everyone is spot on. It's a great place to be.

The cost of living is still relatively cheap, though rising fast, and the food is amazing. The tropical climate makes for interesting flying around 1pm every day, but the countryside is beautiful. It's also got great topography, with beaches, rainforests, jungles, and mountains, all within two hours of Panama City. I won't even mention the bordering countries, but they're also lovely.

As with any small Latin American nation, poverty is there. Nothing as startling as India or Bangladesh, but poor nonetheless. Thus, there are some places you won't want to drive through. When last I was there, we selected restaurants based on the number of armed guards they could afford...

All in all, a wonderful experience. Friendly people, great food, good weather, and less expensive than the U.S., Europe, or SE Asia. Best of luck, let us know how it turns out! Feel free to PM if you've got other questions.

Cheers,

V

India!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Lineholder I used to work for TACA in CA and I know that both TACA an COPA pilots are leaving to INDIA. Spicejet in India hires 737 pilots and the chief pilot is American, SWA retired, Indigo '(A320) hires pilots non-rated, 3 YEAR CONTRACT.
Air India express hires 737 Cap. and most of them come from COPA ;)
Best jet320

I agreed


6 months ago, I was in Costa Rica. I drove down to Panama, beautiful city by the way. Stayed there 3 days, and out of the 3 days twice we didnt have electricity for a few hours and one day we didnt have running water for around 10 hours. So its very common to have power outages down in central america. I was in Costa Rica for 2 weeks in Jaco, Montezuma, Guanacaste, and San Jose and they were also power outages every 2-3 days for a few hours mostly in the late afternoon. :confused:

I just came back from an out and back to Guatamala. First time there. Man what an interesting airport. On TO roll the runway is so poorly leveled that the wings (Airbus 319 ) shook like a 152 on a grass strip. And the east side of the airport is the typical corrosion corner type of museum collection. I could spend a week looking through and photographing the wonderful old airframes there.

In regards to Copa, whats the pay scales there?

Haven't got a clue as I haven't had my interview yet. I have been told that they're planning on a fairly sizeable pay raise, though.

Affirm on TACA defections to India...well, at least I know of one guy on the 320 at Kingfisher who was TACA 737.

There is one BBJ job currently listed on climbto350.com (gotta sign up for the membership to apply for it...i'd give you contact info if I had it)...says it's 30/30 duty cycle, up to 65, believe it's in India. Not sure who your FO is, but that might be a pretty sweet outfit.

I believe there are a few fractional ownership cos (there are so many these days I lose track) that have BBJs.

Heres a contract with one of Air India's subsidiaries...14 days off w/biz class return tix to home per 2 mo. duty:

http://rishworthaviation.com/opportu...ppid=676&cat=1

Also...might look into Jet Airways 737NG fleet as well. Up to 65, and they've got int'l service so you could jumpseat home.

Though I'm young, I'm kind of a wannabe non-sched/contract guy, so I look into this stuff frequently...if Copa didn't work out, you would probably have plenty of luck looking into an NG/classic operator in a country with +60 and transcon service if you didn't want to be in India.

[quote=nicholasblonde;251990 I'm kind of a wannabe non-sched/contract guy, so I look into this stuff frequently...if Copa didn't work out, you would probably have plenty of luck looking into an NG/classic operator in a country with +60 and transcon service if you didn't want to be in India.[/quote]

Thanks for the info nic-o-blond!!! I'm humbled, I truly am. You are a veratible wealth of information. You gottcha' self a neat name, too. Same as my 14 yr old son's.

The Air India gig is six on two off. They fly you only to their nearest destination (your nominated base), so if your in LAX then great, but if your in AKL or SYD then not so great (SIN would be your best bet).

One of our APC bretheren starts there at the beginning of Nov. He is the only one with jet time as the three others on his course are B1900 pilots. I ran into two chaps from Oz at our sim (we are doing their conversion training) and they are TP guy's as well, E120 FO and I don't know the other.

Rishworth is indeed the contract agency, otherwise not affiliated with Air India. Other B777 contracts with them are Korean and Vietnam. Jack Priest is the guy to speak with there and I'd phone him directly if I wanted the job.

As an expat COPA is good though; makes me wonder why they just don't pay their own guy's properly. Again, Panama and the Americas over the sub continent any day of the week. . . for me that is.

ATlineholder,

I'm presently working at COPA. We have great equipment, top of the line maintenance, and you'll be flying some very interesting routes. Currently we are hiring about 10-15 american captains, mainly from Southwest and Continental, a month. It's a great place to work, you just have to remember you're gonna be in a different country working by their rules, and american efficiency isn't exactly one of their selling points. On the downside the pay sucks, and doesn't really compare to US carriers, probably due to the fact that Panama is a pretty cheap place to live. On the bright side there are incredibly good looking F/A's and they all are young :D

I recommend you tidy up on your Spanish, VNAV and VSD skills, since thats been the major problem with foreign captains.

Best of luck,
Poorpilot

Thanks Poorpilot. I'll definately work on my Spanish. Not quite sure what you meant by the VNAV and VSD skills thing, though. Anyway, appreciated the input and hope to see you soon in Panama.:cool:

ATlineholder,

I just realized i wasn't very clear on my last post.

COPA has had some problems during the transition training for some of the EXPAT captains. The main reason being that at COPA we are REALLY big on automation and since Southwest does not operate their NG's with the VNAV option or autothrottles(in an effort to make the NG's similar to some of their classic models) then it's become a slight problem to train some of the guys that just don't really get the concept of VNAV and prefer to "revert" to how they flew at Southwest. And about the VSD,(vertical situation display) is basically a plan view of the terrain ahead that is displayed on the ND. We use it alot when flying into the majority of the airports in central america and the south in mountainous terrain. My understanding is that COPA is the only 737 operator with the VSD option installed. I guess the feeling to new-comers has been that the VSD fills the screen and tends to disorient the PF a bit.

Hope this helps
poorpilot

If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me...

Thanks for the footnote, Poorpilot.