jsfBoat

So why all the discontent with American pilots? Maybe has to do with taking the jobs of Chinese pilots, but other than that I don't know.

Kapitanleutnant

So where are they getting all these wide body captain's and fo's from.

How picky can they continue to be if they need so many pilots for all their airlines who are having to pay upwards of 200K US/year to recruit…. even having to give a road show in the US a few months back.

I wonder if someone at one of those road shows ever stood up and said to the recruiters, "Do you all know why you have to come all the way to the US to find pilots? It's because your work ethics are zero in your business, your contract promises are hollow, your medicals are such that even the world's astronauts couldn't pass and your basings in our country are meaningless as per past practices and reality. So… can you tell me again why anyone in this room should go to your country to fly for you?"

I'm sure no one did this but I've often thought about what their answer might be.

They wouldn't want me and I certainly don't want them. Shame though really…. there seems to be some great potential there but at the end of the day, they really are a 3rd world nation…. granted with a pretty big military! :-)

Kap

DjHubberts

My last one was on my last PC.

Probe

My last 4 were on my last Chinese PC. LOL We get 3 practice days (4 hours) and then the 4 hour check ride. Unfortunately the 4 total days were back to back. Midnight to 4 am, then 4 am to 8 am. Two days in a row to make 4 days. Talk about a b@llbuster pair of all nighters. Luckily I had all the single engine raw data approaches to keep my awake.

The Chinese only know one way of business - their way. They actually treat expats better than they treat each other. They could care less how many expats they spend 200k to recruit. It is socialism, which means it is "someone else's money".

I enjoyed most of my time in China, but after all I saw, I still only recommend it to a pilot who has another, secure, job to go back too. A guy on a LOA or furlough from another airline. The money looks great on paper, but if you are med down for 4 months of every year, how does it look then?

EXPAT1

Most of the successful applicants are Ex-Ryan Air guys from Europe. The pass rate for the sim is very low. One group had 14 with only 3 passing the sim. Of those 3 only 1 was successful in the medical. Remember you will do 2 actual checkrides in the sim, one for the company and one for the CAAC. Rarely they are done simultaneously but normally the company/interview ride and then the CAAC check, before you even start training.
I think this will be an OK contract if you are a type rated Captain. If you are Non-typed I would avoid this contract as you will be a defacto Cruise Captain. You will fly with another Chinese Captain and an FO on longhaul and ULR flights, never actually signing for the jet but just as an enroute Cruise Captain. Trying to log the flight time as PIC will be very problematic. If you are age 50 plus then I would also avoid this contract as the Chinese astronaut physical will most likely knock you off somewhere along the way. The Chinese are getting many applicants for this contract and they continuously advertise through multiple recruiting agencies just to get a few who will pass all categories of the interview process. Remember the interview is almost a non-player in China. It is the sim and the medical that really count here. Trying to get one base or another will only disappoint you. Plan on going to Guanzhou for most of your flights and if you get a Sydney or another city to start a trip then count yourself lucky. Because this is a new contract plan on may growing pains and several years of trying to educate the CS management on how ExPats want schedules, commuting, basing etc. Overall I think long term this has good potential for rated pilots but NTR pilots will take 18-24 months plus before they actually ever see themselves as the true PIC.

DjHubberts

Please keep in mind that with most of the Chinese airlines, educating about the airline culture anywhere else comes with massive growing pains. The airline culture here is based on the fact that the airline OWNS the pilot's licence. They treat the local pilots like indentured servants (pretty much what they are...) so things like QOL, basing, days off and vacation take time for them to adjust to the way most of the expats expect. Plus, as said earlier, the local contracts are written with a large override for foreign flying, so the local pilots get dibs on the foreign flying. Makes a ton of sense... send a Chinese pilot on the international route that requires English while the native english speaker flies the domestic routes in China.

I would be VERY leery being a NTR expat for a Chinese airline. The pass rate (at least at my airline) for even the locals advancing is very low.

ShyGuy

These are the same airlines that have problems with doing visuals. I can't imagine them flying raw data anything for their own local pilots. Just another reason to try and wash out expat pilots.

pilotrob23

Just flew with a captain that picked up the Air China Cargo, 777 CA position. His contract is 18k a month at 50 hours, and his buddy who is there on the same contract flew 90 hours, and brought in 35k in one month. I am waiting for the specifics on the contract job, and will post when I get it, but is this a reality for anyone out there flying? Seems like it was too good to be true, but it certainly wasn't through Wasinc, or Rishworth. Keep everyone posted if I hear more! Cheers.

Neosporin

So why does signing for the plane or being the "actual" PIC matter?
Who cares about logging PIC if you are qualified for this position?
the money is the same right? or not?

The Dominican

The magic minimum hours in the hull DO matter, a LOT! After that they don't at all. But it is best to cross that threshold as soon as possible, because if it turns out that the job is not what you expected or worst yet, your family doesn't adjust to the new gig, then you are stuck at a job where you are not gaining the minimum hours to go somewhere else and you are not current on your previous A/C either.