China Needs 39 Pilots (9 Captain Vacancies)
 

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As I mentioned in my introduction yesterday, I volunteer with the China Pilots Association and we cooperate with 27 major/regional airlines in Asia/China with recruitment, housing, medical, visa assistance, cross-cultural training, etc. Anyone interested in exploring the China option, we can help you avoid the dogs. We are mostly expats living and flying here since 2005 and know the good, the bad, and the fugly. At present we are can place the following:

9 B737-800 Captains and 11 First Officers (FT)
7 Dash 8 Pilots
A320 & A340 Captains and First Officers (4)
2 MD80 Pilots
B747 Captain and 2 First Officers
C130 Pilot (air freight)
B757 Captain & First Officer
B767 Captain & First Officer

The positions are China and/or Taiwan-based for scheduled passenger service, air freight, or charter. Some are five on and five off. All details provided upon receipt of a current CV. The basic requirements are as follows:

* Current medical
* 4,000 total hours - 2,000 hours in type minimum
* Fluent, accent-free English
* Under 50 years of age
* Available within 30 days

Generous pay and benefits package. Let me hear from you if you are interested at Nick(at)ChinaPilotsAssociation.org

Dealing with the Chinese medical is too much of a hassle. They look for a 18 year old body on a 40 yr old guy.

China Needs 39 Pilots (9 Captain Vacancies)
 

If the pay is right, finding pilots might not be a problem.

Thanks for the post....I have also heard if you are over 50 the medical is a crap shoot.

I think if China gets desperate enough, they will lower their medical standards...

I spoke with a recruiter about lowering the medical standards and they said they have enough applicants that there is no need and they do not foresee the CAAC do that. Even with the horrible pass rate on the medical there is enough applicants to keep them happy. I agree if they made the medical more realistic then more might consider it.

So what would really be accent free? Even British and Americans have their regional accents, let alone other international English accent.:cool:

So what English accent are you referring to?:confused: Looks like the pilots will be giving speech over the radio than communicating with ATC!:mad:

uh, pilot shortage ?

If their shortage gets bad enough, just open bases here in the US, and voila, problem solved! Plenty of pilots here that don't want to commute or move overseas. Of course, it's easier said than done.

They have been opening us pilot bases...

Also if their supposed shortage gets bad enough they can be more realistic on the time in type requirements. I don't understand why Asia is so set on thousands of hours in type. I think a guy with 5,000 hrs in a 737 is qualified for an A320 or 757 gig.

I must've been hiding under a rock. Where and which airlines?

There are several non- typed jobs in Asia:confused:

Ho I' m going to hate myself... Engrish wit ha noh accrent.

Accent free English...that's a riot. I refused to fly with a few Chinese FO's because they couldn't understand my accent free American English on a good day.

Do not know of any Chinese airlines specifically other than Hainan which had the option of an A330 base in Seattle. Air China is offering an A330 base in Vancouver as well as several bases in Europe and Australia. What several of the Chinese Airlines are beginning to offer is a month on/month off option. Chengdu Airlines, Tianjin Airlines both offer this that I know of and I have heard other say that West Air and Spring Air will allow it as well. 6/3 is also becoming a lot more common.

Part of the reason the medical is so tough in China is due to the punitive Chinese culture. If a foreign captain becomes incapacitated and the inexperienced FO (not all are inexperienced) has issues with getting the aircraft on the ground and there is an accident or incident, the Chinese authorities will look for someone to be blamed and punish. There is a good chance they will look to the doctor who certified the foreign captain who was incapacitated. In the Chinese mindset, if the doctor had done his job correctly the captain would have never have had any issues. So the doctor must be punished for his failings. A good example of this is about two years ago a foreign captain had a mild stroke while in flight. Now the Chinese medical has added a neck ultrasound (to look for buildup in the arteries leading to the brain) and a CAT scan of the brain.

Ah yes, I was a victim of that particular campaign...had been flying there almost 4 years with absolutely no problems with medicals when we were all told we had to go to Beijing for the brain scan, it was done in assembly line fashion, month and a half later I was told I had had a stroke and shortly after that I left China(of course I was ok to fly the flight back to base). On my return to US had all the tests done and there was absolutely no indication of stroke or anything else, who knows who's scan they were looking at.....like everyone says, go at your own risk.:mad:

I am thinking I just heard your story. By chance did you used to fly for USA 3000 and Sichuan Airlines?

I have a friend who failed the medical here in China after being told he had heart irregularities. He went back home to Sweden and told his doctors there what the Chinese had found. They ran a whole battery of tests and concluded the Chinese were full of BS. He promptly had his EASA class 1 medical renewed with no issues. I know of another guy who had his medical issuance delayed here in China because of something in his blood test. He checked with his doctor back in the states and his doctor was floored the Chinese would have an issue with it. I cannot remember the name of it, but it is a hormone (I think) that is elevated in people who exercise regularly. This guy was an avid runner. His American doctor said it was an indication of very good health and of a healthy lifestyle, but the Chinese quacks were not happy with it. Even though I passed the medical I am about 15 pounds overweight. I loved having the Chinese doctor tell me I was too fat as he puffed on his third cigarette in the 15 minutes I was in his office...

I'm thinking the Stephen Hawking type automated voice you hear on the ATIS at large airports. Or, Larry the cable guy maybe? I could get there with some practice.

Heard a story the other day of a guy who got sent home because he failed the Chinese HIV test:eek:! Needless to say it was quite a shock but when he got back to the States everything checked out ok.

Sounds like the same quality control outfit that handles the medical tests is also responsible for tainted dog treats, etc. etc.

And what if my recurrent medical issues are due to the rather poor air quality in many of the mainland cities? Oh yea, have a good day and good bye. No thanks, even with US standards for medicals, no thanks.

"I am thinking I just heard your story. By chance did you used to fly for USA 3000 and Sichuan Airlines?"

Well, the Sichuan Airlines part is correct anyway. Now flying for a Central American carrier for a lot less money but also a lot less stress and a lot more fun. Guess things sort of work out... after 7 airlines in the U.S. not even gonna bother there....:)

Wow you are a tenacious dude!

In two years, here is what I saw.

Maybe 10% that interviewed, passed.

Of those that passed and came to China with a "job", only half ever made it to pass a line check.

Of those who passed a line check, only half finished a 2 year contract.

Of those who finished a two year contract, only half renewed their contract.

I was in the half that did not renew my contract.

The vast majority of those that didn't make it were for medical reasons. Not that they all failed the medical and had to leave, but also they failed so many times, and lost so much salary, it wasn't worth it for them to stay, despite the high advertised salary.

It is a total crap shoot. Russian roulette for your career.

I was advised to purchase a good loss of medical/license insurance plan.

I thought those plans would not be valid for contract work?

There are a few that might. I got a quote from a UK insurer and I advised them I was a contract pilot. There was no disclaimer in their contract that stated it was not eligible for contract employment.

I doubt any insurer would stay in the market for more than 6-12 months. They are in the business to make money, not give it away.

There is actually one very good LOL Insurer from the US which offers Insurance albeit at the upper tier in cost but a premium plan offering a 5 year payout and it insures your Chinese License only. Pm me if interested, I am not a salesman just passing info. Probe explains the situation quite well. Having talked with other ExPat pilots it does make a big difference which region you go to for your medicals. The biggest failures are cardiovascular related issues, kidney stones, and blood/urine issues. China is NOT a career but a decent place to come for one or two contracts and pay off your house, save for the kids college and build up a nest egg then move on to something less stressful. There is a new B-737 NG FO contract out which offers an upgrade after 1000 hours which in China is only 1 year of flying LOL.

Thanks. I knew it, there really isn't much basing in the US, other than Cathay Pacific also. The day they start offering that and then they'll have more US pilots applying.

You raised good points about the stringent medical exams which eliminate about 30% of all applicants, but the CAC is feeling pressure to be more realistic and focus on vision and heart issues. There was a semi-secret conference in Tianjin last week about exactly this problem and all the HR directors from 22 Chinese airlines asked for "realistic standards conducive to hiring".

Some veteran expat pilots here feel there may be CAC old-schoolers who simply want to see more Chinese pilots in the left seat regardless of their English proficiency and use the medical fails as a tool to further that agenda, which of course is counter-productive and threatens air safety - if true.

The chinese pilots still have to pass the same medical and I have met several captains there that have failed and are trying again. the only difference is that they still have a job whereas expats are shown the door. When they start to use common sense on the medicals more people will pass. Too often pilots fail something based on data that in no way can be true. Liver enzymes 50 times over limit and they think that the test must be right and the person is walking dead. I have had to do my blood test 3 times in three days because either they lost it or something was wrong. total lack of talent in their CAAC medical examinations with the majority of the test being given by students not real doctors. I hope that they relax the standards or at least use common sense. Maybe let pilots use their counties medicals?

The CAAC medical will not change. It is their "system". It is how everything is done in China. We call it organized crime.

That is all they have known for thousands of years. They think it is normal.

They cut expats much more slack than they do themselves. We had 39 out of 150 Chinese captains at my airline med down at one time. The average age was probably 32.

It is what it is.