Originally Posted by MayFly135s (Post 450143)

I left Air India after 6 months as a 777 FO because of my concerns about the lack of basic (international) airline safety standards. While some things you can deal with the whole picture made me take a hard look if this was a company I wanted on my resume.

1. The almost zero CRM
2. Constant smoking in the cockpit
3. Cockpit door kept unlocked for all (welcomed or other) to enter the flight deck
4. Briefings at dispatch conducted in Hindi
5. Failure to brief the departure or approach while on the flight deck
6. Continued confusion as to who is the PF and the PM
- Cmdr seems to want to do everything and not include the FO, in ANY of the operational functions of the aeroplane
7. Hotel accommodation in Delhi, The Ashok Hotel:
- there is no air conditioning. There is a "fan" system only.
- the fridge in the room does not work 99% of the time
- sometimes there is hot water available, sometimes not
- food quality is very (hygienically) poor leaving many with "stomach problems" time after time when staying there.
8. Contractual terms between AI and the hosting hotels change without ANY notification to the crew from AI or the hotel concerned.

The other piece of the puzzel really depends on two main things...

1. Capt or FO? As a Capt you are obviously more of a commodity and get more of a say in your schedule. Most CAPTs are on a 7 on/6 off (days) schedule versus FOs on 6 on/2 off (wks). As a CAPT most flights tend to be JFK-DEL/BOM and as a rule of thumb expect to be the cruise relief to a 40 something Indian Capt despite what experience you bring to the table. Expat FOs are also primarily used in the cruise relief position. Also there must be an Indian on the crew so any 2 man operations won't be with another expat.

2. Do you live in/near an Air India destination (JKF, ORD, LHR, BHX)? Air India only pays to get you from one of their destinations to the plane, so if you live off line the commute is on your own dime/time. Most of the guys that are happy live in the NYC/BOS/DC area so when they land they are home.

So for me the cultural and company issues drove me on to a professional airline.

As always I am happy to put guys in touch with current AI expat Capt/FOs

MF

Originally Posted by MayFly135s (Post 470213)

For the 777 FOs Air India could not get the experience they were looking for at the price they were paying. Of the initial 16 FOs all of us purchased a self funded 777 rating; Rishworth negotiated for Air India/DGCA to take us with zero time on type.

Most of the guys+gal came from BE1900 or Metro's so it was a gamble that worked out. In exchange for the poor conditions they will get widebody/jet time and move onto other jobs. However, despite what Rishworth may say, Air India has no plans to move expats FOs to 777 Captains (and rightfully so since there are local FOs with 4 years/3000+ hours on type that have not upgraded).

Bit of history: on 1 Jun 08, the DGCA decided to have all expat FOs removed from the country. Up until a few days prior to 1 June we were to be terminated. There was another batch of 8 self funded 777 ratings (4 complete/4 in training) that were told to go get their old jobs back! The DGCA timeline is now shifted to Jun 2010 (I believe) and only a handful of the previous 2nd batch of 8 are now going to Air India.

My advice is buyer beware with Air India, the DGCA, and Rishworth for that matter. Upon terminating my contract (for documented breaches of contract, safety, and legal concerns) both Air India and Rishworth refuse to pay not only outstanding wages, but also visa fees and airline ticket fees from my initial start with Air India.

Originally Posted by MayFly135s (Post 471603)

Always happy to share my little bit of knowledge and help those silly enough to follow in my footsteps.

Those Metro and 1900 drivers all had a minimum of 3-4000+ hours when they got hired onto the Air India 777 contract so they are by no means inexperienced aviators. I don't know of anyone with 1000TT and a 777 endorsement getting hired.

As for me I ended up at Cathay and am just finishing up my simulator phase on the A330.