Avianca
09-29-2008, 04:56 PM
#2
Line Holder
Joined APC: Jun 2008
Posts: 45
I flew for Avianca but that was 9 years ago. I don't know what the process is now, but when I was there, there was no polygraph, but there was an interview with a psychologist, and 2 separate written psychological tests. The interview process was as follows:
1st Stage: Aviation Knowledge Test(similar to the ATP)
2nd Stage: Simulator Check in some old Dmel non-motion sim(can't remember)
3rd Stage: Psychological Interview and 2 Writtens
4th Stage: Personal Interview with Director of Operations
The Colombians are picky and demand a lot of respect. The company was sweet and worth it. They provide each crew member with a chauffeur so you get picked up and brought back home everyday. Company paid absolutely everything under the sun, even headsets and flight cases. Food was catered daily to the airplanes so we could eat. I'm sure things have changed since, but I have great memories.
Are they hiring or what?
1st Stage: Aviation Knowledge Test(similar to the ATP)
2nd Stage: Simulator Check in some old Dmel non-motion sim(can't remember)
3rd Stage: Psychological Interview and 2 Writtens
4th Stage: Personal Interview with Director of Operations
The Colombians are picky and demand a lot of respect. The company was sweet and worth it. They provide each crew member with a chauffeur so you get picked up and brought back home everyday. Company paid absolutely everything under the sun, even headsets and flight cases. Food was catered daily to the airplanes so we could eat. I'm sure things have changed since, but I have great memories.
Are they hiring or what?
10-02-2008, 08:36 AM
#4
Line Holder
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Feb 2008
Position: Window Seat
Posts: 35
Originally Posted by LMEN
Are they hiring or what?
"Despite rising fuel prices and problems in the aviation sector in general, Colombian airline Avianca is booming.
BY MIKE CEASER
BOGOTA — An airplane may not be able to perform a U-turn. But Colombia's Avianca has proven that an airline can.
Colombia's Avianca demonstrated that with its dramatic rebound from bankruptcy to becoming one of the region's most vigorous airline
FLYING HIGH: Avianca is spending $3 billion for 10 Boeing B787 Dreamliners as part of its expansion. (Photo: Boeing)"
Couldn't read the entire article because I guess you have to pay but that was taken from
Latin Business Chronicle
thanks for the info LMEN
06-10-2009, 05:42 PM
#5
New Hire
Joined APC: Jun 2009
Position: MD-83 Captain
Posts: 2
I typically do not join sites but read this posting and wanted to reply.
I have been an Avianca employee for 24 years. The person who said they worked here is not telling the truth. News like that would spread between our very close group. We have one American working here and he has been here for 4 years. He was born in Spain but raised in the United States. He is married to a Colombian woman and moved here. We have had many American inquire to jobs here but we do not hire them because Avianca will not sponser visas for Americans. Only a few select pilots from latin america get a visa sponsered.
I will explain our process to get hired.
First, you have to be a permanent resident. That means being married to a Colombian and living here for two years. During that time you can not fly. You can not training for anything other than a private pilots license. To have your FAA licenses converted, it is a long and expensive process. Your level of Spanish must be fluent. There has never been any exception made for that. The written tests you take here will be in Spanish. The Ministry of civil aviation does not just hand out a license. I did all my primary training in the US. Back when I did it, flying was something that was not easy to train for here. Not cheap is what I mean. As flight schools started to be formed then pilots started being able to train in a civilian way and not in military.
Once you have perm residency you will have to get your private license covalidated. That is the only license they will covalidate for anyone other than a Colombian. The truth behind it is that they see Americans, and other foreigners from the better off countries as a way to make money. So after you retrain for the commercial and instrument and multi motor, then your previous hours must be evaluated by the civil aviation ministry. It is called civil aviation but all the people in charge are military officers. Your type ratings will be no good here. You will have to go through training all over.
The process to get hired, once you have done all the above, will be an interview. The mental evaluation is nothing to worry about. If you are not crazy, you can pass it. Then you must get a class 1 medical here. I hear it is the same as the FAA. My son just finished flight training in the US and is now a first officer here and said the medical testing was the same in the US as it is here. But here cerain things can be waivered that can not in US.
After all that is completed you interview with a group of pilots. They get to know you and see if you are someone they would want working with them. If a current pilot has recommend you then this part is easy. If you make it past that then you must complete a written test. Written test is in both English and Spanish together. You must also pass an English exam. I went to an American high school here so it was not very difficult to pass.
If all is wel you are invited back for a simulator ride. It is all about decision making and basic control. It is very easy and not many fail. But if you do you can take it again in one week. I tell everyone to buy one hour time on it before so you can get used to it. One hour costs about $80US.
After all that you will get a training date.
Yes we are treated very well and being a pilot in Colombia is still a very prestigious career. Our pay is good and our lifestyle is very good as well. I would say it is one of the best careers in the country. We make more money than most medical doctors excluding plastic surgeons or the like.
If you are wanting to get a job here and have no way of getting perm residency based on marriage then you have no way of getting a job. It will not happen. If you do not believe that you can call our flight operations center in Bogota and speak with someone in recursos humanos.
Any time a new pilot is hired we all know about him or her very quickly. In fact, we have a welcome dinner in their honor before and after their training to get to know them. Our company is a family and we take care of each other like one. I have talked with many US pilots about how their companies are. It is sad to hear how unhappy they are. Here we are family. And even the pilots with the other airlines here are family. We never talk bad about other companies. We are a family, and our families at home are part of our work family. All my best friends are company employees and the same for my wife. I would not ever consider leaving here for a company outside Colombia.
Im sorry to bear bad news to you, but this is the real truth about getting on at Avianca. You need to be 100% fluent in spanish and have perm residency. If you dont meet those two basic requirements, it is not an option for you.
I have been an Avianca employee for 24 years. The person who said they worked here is not telling the truth. News like that would spread between our very close group. We have one American working here and he has been here for 4 years. He was born in Spain but raised in the United States. He is married to a Colombian woman and moved here. We have had many American inquire to jobs here but we do not hire them because Avianca will not sponser visas for Americans. Only a few select pilots from latin america get a visa sponsered.
I will explain our process to get hired.
First, you have to be a permanent resident. That means being married to a Colombian and living here for two years. During that time you can not fly. You can not training for anything other than a private pilots license. To have your FAA licenses converted, it is a long and expensive process. Your level of Spanish must be fluent. There has never been any exception made for that. The written tests you take here will be in Spanish. The Ministry of civil aviation does not just hand out a license. I did all my primary training in the US. Back when I did it, flying was something that was not easy to train for here. Not cheap is what I mean. As flight schools started to be formed then pilots started being able to train in a civilian way and not in military.
Once you have perm residency you will have to get your private license covalidated. That is the only license they will covalidate for anyone other than a Colombian. The truth behind it is that they see Americans, and other foreigners from the better off countries as a way to make money. So after you retrain for the commercial and instrument and multi motor, then your previous hours must be evaluated by the civil aviation ministry. It is called civil aviation but all the people in charge are military officers. Your type ratings will be no good here. You will have to go through training all over.
The process to get hired, once you have done all the above, will be an interview. The mental evaluation is nothing to worry about. If you are not crazy, you can pass it. Then you must get a class 1 medical here. I hear it is the same as the FAA. My son just finished flight training in the US and is now a first officer here and said the medical testing was the same in the US as it is here. But here cerain things can be waivered that can not in US.
After all that is completed you interview with a group of pilots. They get to know you and see if you are someone they would want working with them. If a current pilot has recommend you then this part is easy. If you make it past that then you must complete a written test. Written test is in both English and Spanish together. You must also pass an English exam. I went to an American high school here so it was not very difficult to pass.
If all is wel you are invited back for a simulator ride. It is all about decision making and basic control. It is very easy and not many fail. But if you do you can take it again in one week. I tell everyone to buy one hour time on it before so you can get used to it. One hour costs about $80US.
After all that you will get a training date.
Yes we are treated very well and being a pilot in Colombia is still a very prestigious career. Our pay is good and our lifestyle is very good as well. I would say it is one of the best careers in the country. We make more money than most medical doctors excluding plastic surgeons or the like.
If you are wanting to get a job here and have no way of getting perm residency based on marriage then you have no way of getting a job. It will not happen. If you do not believe that you can call our flight operations center in Bogota and speak with someone in recursos humanos.
Any time a new pilot is hired we all know about him or her very quickly. In fact, we have a welcome dinner in their honor before and after their training to get to know them. Our company is a family and we take care of each other like one. I have talked with many US pilots about how their companies are. It is sad to hear how unhappy they are. Here we are family. And even the pilots with the other airlines here are family. We never talk bad about other companies. We are a family, and our families at home are part of our work family. All my best friends are company employees and the same for my wife. I would not ever consider leaving here for a company outside Colombia.
Im sorry to bear bad news to you, but this is the real truth about getting on at Avianca. You need to be 100% fluent in spanish and have perm residency. If you dont meet those two basic requirements, it is not an option for you.
06-12-2009, 01:10 PM
#7
Line Holder
Joined APC: Apr 2008
Position: A320 FO
Posts: 79
I am doing the conversion right now and I could tell you that it´s not an easy process. AviancaMD83, I´ll be applying to Avianca in the near term....hope everything goes well. >>I´ll truly appreciate any advice that you could give me. I couldn't´t send you a private message, so here is my e'mail [email protected] in case you don´t want to make any information public.
Thank you,
MDT
Thank you,
MDT
06-12-2009, 02:42 PM
#9
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2006
Posts: 126
They are hiring for sure. I got an Invitacion e-mail to start the interview process from Claudia Moreno Couple of months ago even thoung I decided not to continue with the process I think Avianca is one of the best airlines to work for now days.
AviancaMD83 is absolutly right about everything. And been 100% fluent in spanish and have perm residency it is and should be a minumin and very essential requirement. You need to be a least permanent resident and be fluent in English to Work in USA anyways.
And yes Avianca it still a family when it comes to co-workers I know many Avianca pilots and I flew on them many times in uniform and it is always great expirience.
MDT06 best of the lucks and dont worry about the polygraph test. I hope you are not planning to lie in your interview anyways. Did you go to school in New York??? SUNY????
AviancaMD83 is absolutly right about everything. And been 100% fluent in spanish and have perm residency it is and should be a minumin and very essential requirement. You need to be a least permanent resident and be fluent in English to Work in USA anyways.
And yes Avianca it still a family when it comes to co-workers I know many Avianca pilots and I flew on them many times in uniform and it is always great expirience.
MDT06 best of the lucks and dont worry about the polygraph test. I hope you are not planning to lie in your interview anyways. Did you go to school in New York??? SUNY????
06-14-2009, 07:38 PM
#10
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2007
Posts: 161
Hey I am a dual Citizen (USA and Colombia) and I am fluent in spanish. I currently fly for an airline here in the US. Seeing as many of Aviancas airplanes are November registry as oppsed to HK would I be able to apply with my american ratings or is it mandatory to convert certificates?? 
Thanks for your help!
Thanks for your help!
