CAPTDOUG

COPA is now hiring Captains. They are interviewing starting end of April, 2010 with a class in June and August. They have an agreement with Continental Airlines (because Continental owns their airplanes and the union there is weak and unable or incapable to enforce scope) that they give preferential hiring to furloughed and retired CAL pilots. I dont know about the rest of the seats. They have been very quick to respond so if u dont get a response then u can assume they are not interested.
It looks like the total income for a Captain it close to $7000/month for 737. I dont know anything else.
I would like to hear from anyone that knows about the aviation test, interview, oral exam and sim ride. PM me if u want or post here.

tzadik

any idea of spanish fluency is a necessity here?

stbloc

as far as I understand, no requirement.

Yeager08

CAPTDOUG,

Where did you send your application and resume to? The email address posted on their website keeps bouncing back not recognized
Do you have another address to send your paperwork?

Y.

PA31

Does anybody have any information on FO positions at Copa? Interested in knowing about QOL and pay. Currently a CRJ FO.

Thanks!

cruiseclimb

They will only hire captains unless you're from Panama.. There are plenty of lower time pilots in Central America to fill the FO spots.

stbloc

What's the cut off on total time before they won't consider you for the FO position?

fit29

Continental does not own copa aircraft, they are all owned (some) leased by CM directly. CO has no ownership whatsoever of CM, they used to own 49% but CM is now completely Panamanian owned. the Union in CM is a bad joke, Pay is the same for the 737 or E190, but on the 190 you get 75 hours guarrantee, on the 737 63 hours. CM operates the longest 737 flights in the world, 7 hour flights to Buenos Aires, LA, Montevideo, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. There is little chance of commuting because most schedules are 2-3 day trips with up to 4 legs so you are in Panama a lot.

fit29

From what I understand you need 4500 hours TT 1000PIC to qualify for a Direct Entry Captain, if you are hired as an FO you will have to go through the seniority list before upgrading, but in order for a foreigner to upgrade there must not be a single Panamanian that qualifies for an upgrade at the time the position becomes available. They have hired foreign FO's before but it has not happened in a while, currently there are a lot of Panamanian pilots with the time to qualify for an FO spot.

Quality of Life is great here, if you plan on living in Panama City, you will be home a lot as trips rarely continue, you usually fly out, overnight and come back the next day. QOL is better on the 190 than on the 737 becouse the 737 has more redyes and longer trips. If you plan on commuting I would say you will probably be able to go home about 5-10 days a month, but not continuous, you would have to split it in two trips.

The people at CM are great, management will usually try to help you out if there is a problem, destinations are fun and there are many challenging places to fly into, and the schedules are not bad at all. CM has a an employee shuttle service that picks you up at your home to take you to the airport and drops you off after the end of your trip.

Panama city is a great place to live, you have everything you have in the US, the only problem is the traffic which is the worst I have seen anywhere in the world.

As far as fears you may have about flying in Central America, Panama has the best aviation infrastructure in all of Central America, really nothing to ask compared to US airports, some destinations are problematic, but nothing we haven't seen before. Safety at CM is top notch and matenance is great, I rarely see an airplane with an open MEL item that last more than a few days, even if they are not essential, they really try to keep the planes clean; all maintenance except heavy checks are done in house and the people that do the heavy maintenance for CM planes here in Panama (a subsidiary of Singapore Technologies) even do maintenance for other airlines.

CM is one of the most profitable airlines in the world, net profit in 2009 was over 200 million dollars, way more than any US major.

Relocating to Central America is not easy, but CM is a fun place to work, you wont get rich but you will have a lot of fun.

moondriver232

Yeah, I heard about them hiring two months ago and have sent numerous emails to Ms. Henrique and to their website careers address, and nothing. Absolutely no response, and I've heard same story from several guys.