SNA320

As I said before it is an ok option for folks for whom their local market is down. But right now I wouldn't recommend US pilots to come work in this market. This company has changed a lot over the years.[/QUOTE]

About a decade ago AJX/AJV hired many US pilots who were furloughed from their legacy carriers in America. Care to guess how many of them are still working at ANA?

The Dominican

The answer is none! All are now back at their respective carriers and we have been experiencing a steady flow of resignations from US pilots going back, UPS, United, American, Southwest... are taking AJX pilots.

There will be a handful that will stay due to the fact that they are married to Japanese ladies but the rest are formulating an exit strategy

Bufalo01

Hi Dominican!! I been reading ur posts and are very informative for the people as me, that would like to work for this company.
Sadly the reality of how the things are being managed for the US mayor are very different to the way everyone on this post is mentioning.
The flows from the regionals to the Majors while u work for any of their express companies is just a big lie.
they want to keep the union quite and the pilots under the promise of career pathway but is just not true.
They interview 20 pilots and just take 2 of them to keep everybody quite.
Their goal is to hire the people from the street or steal pilots from the competence( other airlines) and if u don't have a 4 years degree u look dumb for them, and 9 out of 10 they wont hired u.
I'm flying for one of the express for a year now, and I've applied with all of them since long time ago,and still there is nothing.
So i think is better to wait with 90K a year being there than wait here with a lower salary than an uber driver.. and ruining ur personal life holding reserve for a year...
I've applied with crew and i hope i can join soon.
Slds hmno.

jrmyl

Wait, you've only been at a regional for a year? And you are confused why a major won't hire you? C'mon. A year is nothing. If you still haven't gotten any interviews within 5 years then you should be looking for this job. If you really want to get out of the regional, go apply at one of the ACMI/Freight/LCC's. Do your time there then get a job at a major.

And if you don't have a degree then start doing an online study. I have found that as a pilot I have a lot of free time that if I wanted to get another degree I could.

Just no reason to come over here from the US.

Bufalo01

One year in a regional it’s no that long ur probably correct, but after 26 years flying in 4 continents, to have 14 days off a month is more important for me than to be holding reserve here, but again each pilot case is very unique and personal and family circumstances as well. The grass is not greener here!!

The Dominican

We are not saying the job doesn't have its merits for some folks, I've said it before many times that for folks from the EU and Oceania, South Africa, it's a fair option and that for them it is worth it to deal with the cultural BS and ridiculous so called "training" But for a young pilot in the US? I just cannot stress enough that coming here would be a mistake!
Right now the US market (as difficult as it may be to get the brass ring) would give a young pilot the best economical and professional rewards, even at LCC and ACMI's the job satisfaction and salary would be much higher! Take JetBlue as an example, with the attrition of guys leaving to the majors and retirement, plus their A/C orders, you can potentially upgrade within 2 to 3 years at jetblue if you come in right now.
With the way their contract is set up, you can work as much as you like and bank some extra coin, I know 6 year seniority captains at JetBlue that still have the same 12 days off that you and I have (Not 14, you spend 2 full days commuting and then you are a basket case for 3 to 4 days after you get home) that are making 30 grand a month picking up open time out of their base since both the DH and the trip are paid at 200% over minimum guaranteed, and that is the BIG difference with this contract that you have ways to influence your monthly work and pay, you can work as little as you like and still make guaranteed, or adjust your days off and make bank, you can choose what trips you like, if you are a morning person you can bid a day trip line and do that, you like a particular destination, you can choose that!
Your medical checks are going to be a none event, and so will your PC's and PT's

I would not recommend ANY US pilot to come here now, it's just not worth it! Even at ACMI's like Kalitta you will have a much better QOL and income over the same 5 year time period as your first contract here.

Here at the end you are just going to be tired, that's all just tired!

The Dominican

Medicals: You can lose your medical here very easily compared to losing your medical in the US, once you lose your medical, to start collecting unemployment benefits in the US is filling out a form and sending it on an email, just ask the next time you fly with one of the guys that has been out on medical what a pain in the rear end is to do anything related to unemployment insurance here.
Then to get your medical back in the US is a matter of sending your doctor's report to the FAA and you get your medical right away.
Here losing your medical for any minor thing that wouldn't cause you to lose your medical in the US, it turns into a circus of reports and emails back and forth and visits to specialists twice because the reports of the doctors back home are worth the paper that they are written on here in Japan, and that takes easily 6 months if it is a minor issue.

And then when you get your medical back after severely cutting your income since unemployment insurance benefits are a joke!

If you are gone for 6 months, your requalification training will turn into a circus, literally! In the US you will do a couple of SIM sessions and a line check, done, back on the line! Over here you need to demonstrate that you are worthy after showing weakness for getting sick on the first place.

You put up with that nonsense when your home country's market is in the gutter, but when you can have a better QOL working for a charter outfit like Omni or an ACMI like Kallitta, Why would you?

dharmesh1231

Hi Guys,

Can anyone pls tell me the latest interview process. What should one concentrate on to study for the interview. Once released is the roster 18 on 12 off?? Also during training can your family visit you just once or is it once a month? Thank you

jrmyl

Don't know anything about the current interview process. When I interviewed I studied my current airplane, FAA ATP questions, and the packet of sim procedures that you will get prior to the interview.

The roster is 12 days off per month. How you use them is up to you. Plus you get 24 days of vacation per fiscal year that you can opt to use during the month to get 14 days off each month.

Family can visit once during training and your spouse can visit a second time.

fliesinverted

Hey sir, how do you feel about younger pilots going to AJX now, with all of the furloughs and Coronavirus stuff going on? I've recently gotten an email stating that I was "short listed." Thanks so much for all of your help in this thread. There are not many sources of specific information out there.