Good operations standards . Receiving brand new acfts (800's) at a rate of one per month (heard it may slow down a little bit) .
Airports with good , long , both sides ILS equiped runways . Good maintenance .
Schedule is planned for a maximum of 4 or 5 days ahead and changes a lot , must check it on the internet almost on a daily basis . But it's easy to request days off and plan your personal life . Generally speaking ,we work for 4 days in a row and have 2 or 3 days off . Typical day you leave in the early morning , fly four legs and get back home between 2100/2330hs .
Salary is for 90 hours block time and we usually fly what we are paid for .Minimum 8 days off and we usually get something between 9 and 12 , with layovers average between 6 and 9 .
Company provides pilot transport . A small bus pick you up at home and deliver you back upon arrival ( 40 min. ride ).
The Foreign Dept. counts with almost 50 pilots already flying and maybe around 30 or 40 more waiting for some paperwork to be ready . Paperwork runs slow , sometimes very slow here . Some guys waiting for more than 6 months to have all CAAC related documents, working visas and so on to be ready . I think salary is paid in full during this period . MUST pass a CAAC ATPL written test which is not difficult at all , but some language/ translation issues and local regulation questions may give you a hard time . Lot of studying material available ( basically previous test questions and GLEIM software). Can repeat the test after 28 days if you fail the first time , in this case maybe the salary will be reduced , gotta check this in your contract .
That's all for now , hope it helps your decision .