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Air Mauritius wannabees

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Air Mauritius wannabees

Old 17th Jan 2007, 07:33
  #21 (permalink)  
Sir Osis of the river
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Get the picture yet??

[Have I been missing something as I've been keeping a close look for the next vacancy after the last bacth went to 43flying school.
Quote :"spoke to IB, he told me that not all the applications were in and was waiting for adverts to stop"

why would he say that?? waiting for the adverts to stop which never started!

RaviMk stated in his thread that AirMauritius has received lots of cadetship applications even though that the vacancy has not been advertised yet.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.
VD[/QUOTE]

VD,

As I said earlier about IB, Good Luck.

Anybody can seem nice in an e-mail or on the telephone. Now you should understand that what they, (MK Management), say and what actually happens are light years apart.

However, that said, if you can ignore the lies and deception, spiralling inflation and dubious rostering practices, it really can be a pleasant job for a while.

SO
 
Old 17th Jan 2007, 08:22
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Thx, will be watchful!

It could have been a misunderstanding from ATPLwhoops, as really the vacancy has not been on the press yet!
Sir O, I'd guess you'd understand that pilot wannabes with a Mauritian citizenship don't have to much of an option.
Where do you think someone can go with a bare CPL?
That's why, we(most of us i'd believe) rely so much on Air Mauritius. We would have to put up with the worse if any to start our career.
It's good that you are warning us but you can also give some encouragement or advices to wannabes.
cheers
VD
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Old 17th Jan 2007, 08:48
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Hi,

I was told for sure that not all applications were in yet! I dont know what is going on then!

Lets hope they come up with something soon.


ATPLwhoops
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Old 17th Jan 2007, 15:44
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PilotVD, this is why I would be very very cautious about training privately if I was only limited to Air Mauritius, which a young Mauritian would be currently.

As for this cadetship, I havent been told about any adverts either! And whats this business of waiting for all the applications to come in...how would you know how many applications will be received after an advert is sent out???? AtplWhoops, I fear IB just wanted to get you off the phone as politely as possible as his cup of tea was getting cold!
UAU242
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Old 17th Jan 2007, 16:20
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hello evbdy


i have more than2000HRS and 1600HRS on A320 and i m looking for a new places and mk could be one of them

i would like to know the real conditions the salary and the way of life and of course the cost

thank s a lot for all answers

fly safe
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Old 17th Jan 2007, 17:59
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it's a bit too late now!

thx UAU242,
too late to adopt your advice as I'm already a CPL holder but could not afford anymore with the CIR due to mounting debts as I did a degree in Avaition as well!
that's why I'm relying a lot on the cadetship scheme. Hope my chances are high in getting through the next intake. I guess there are a lot of self sponsored Mauritian pilots who also want to get in.
cheers
VD
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Old 18th Jan 2007, 14:09
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hi JPHIL68

well i am like you i am currently flying in the USA but i am a french citizen with over 2500 hours and about 1500 hours jet and looking at a change of scenery.
i sent my stuff in for MK and i am now waiting, bu tth emor ei wait and the more i read about this airline the less it is tempting.
work rules seems to be inexistent an doesnt seem well strucutured, an dthe pay isnt great.
are you currently flying?
who do you fly for?
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Old 21st Jan 2007, 04:19
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Cadetship scheme not that far.

hey danythau,
great to hear from another self sponsored pilot. It seems that there r many like us out there. One would think that CPL holders will have a better chance in getting through the selection scheme but u r right in saying that "the rejection rate in the screening process for licences holders are far higher than for ab-initio candidates... ".
Airlines prefer someone gets trained by their structure/syllabus, just like the Air force for military would not even consider someone for pilot training if he/she has a flying experience beyond certain number of hours. they want u to be in their comfort zone and not yours!
i know it s**ks!!
mounting debts, don't even talk about it, for me it came to a point that I was unable to start my IR, did the silly mistake of doing an Aviation dregree for AUS$15,000/yr for 3 yrs!
Well i hope this time AirMtius will take more cadets with CPL already as I heard 4 out of the 13 ab initio cadets who went to 43 flying school recently returned home after failing a flying test( i'd assume) after the assessment at the completion of 18 hours flying training!
Pls correct me if i'm wrong, not too sure on the source.
also heard that the cadetship scheme is not too far!!
anyway Gud luck to everyone.
Cheers
VD
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Old 21st Jan 2007, 18:18
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pilotVD,dannythau

Hi there
I spoke to the chief instructor of 43 recently who told me that only the 2 girls had returned home, maybe since then another 2 have been chopped. In any case, how good is the selection process if at such an early stage already a few have not progressed enough? (admittedly there are always some who don't progress, but good guys were passed over in the last selection!)...I agree with pilotVD and suspect that they look for people who will "fit" in with the company, i might be wrong. I've been told that this is the aim of the personality tests (and you can draw your own conclusions from the fact that the results are "confidential"). Also, i think to an extent its true that they like to train you in their approved school. But they seem to change school, always going to whichever is the best value, every few years its seems. Now its sounds as if the JAA license in Australia will be cheaper than SA and funnily enough I've heard from somewhere or other that they considering it! Add to this that they DO take on guys who've trained in other schools. But this is the same as airlines in the UK. So its not just mk. I suppose what I'm trying to say is if we all go and do our best then their is a chance we'll make it eventually.
PilotVD, don't think of your degree as a waste of money. I did a Finance degree before starting training, and even though it was money that I could have spent on training, it is still a valuable back-up. At any time you can lose your medical, God forbid. But the degree could prove very valuable one day! So its good that you have it!
Hi Dannythau, groundschool is tough, but i'm getting through it, taking it one day at a time! Will be very glad when its all over! Mainly because after this its time to go hourbuilding!!! Should be great fun!
One last thing, no disrespect pilotvd but if you've heard that the cadet selection is not far off, then plan for it in 6 months time, this is "not far off" with MK!
UAU242
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Old 22nd Jan 2007, 15:31
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hanging in there.....

hey Dany & UAU,
I fully agree that the Aviation degree is not a waste but would have preferred to start it after obtaining the licences.
Just a bit confused if the pre-requisites to enter the Cadetship scheme with licences require one to have a CPL and an IR as well as an ATPL frozen, I won't make it and will have to apply as an ab initio. I'm just a little bit mad at myself and hence that winge!
Recent enquiry with HR, IB advised that only a CPL is required but I'm not too sure as it might have been different in previous vacancies, unless they have changed the pre-requisites now.
Does anyone still keep the advert for last time?
Yes,about the drop outs, I might have an explanation but not too sure.
with other airlines like Qantas, before one attempt the psyc test after successfully tackled the Aptitude test, he/she has to do a WOMBAT test, which measures one's hand and eye coordination which is vital to passing through with minimum hours and hence minimising airline training cost.
Does Air Mtius conduct a Wombat test?
One can be very good with IQ and meet the profile on the psyc test but if that person is not good with hand and eye coordination, he/she would be shafted!
About the next cadetship intake, I'm just hanging in there. It has been a long wait, sources say that it was due back in Nov 2006 but due to the reshuffling, it has been delayed. how far??? who knows???
I'm so tempted to go and finish off my 2 subjects to complete my CASA ATPL frozen.
But recently spoke to a Mauritian pilot who joined the cadetship scheme a few years ago, advised me that he had to do JAA ATPL frozen, inspite having a CASA ATPL.
so shd I go all the way to Melbourne to finish off the ATPL?
cheers
thx for replying...
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Old 22nd Jan 2007, 16:07
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Thumbs up wombat test etc

As far as i know, mk dont do the WOMBAT test or any other hand/eye coordination tests. If i recall correctly, it was Aptitude, psychometric, group excercise, interviews.
Pilotvd, if the CPL is sufficient to apply for the scheme for low hours guys then i would hold on and do that. mk do not bear the cost of training anymore, instead the State Bank will give you a loan. So, if you get through then you could end up having gone to australia for nothing. On the other hand, having finished off all the training might work in your favour. Best get advice from someone experienced i think...
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Old 22nd Jan 2007, 17:15
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UAU

Thx mate.
going to see some ppl down SSR Intl Airport sometime next week, so that I can get some advice.
cheers
VD
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Old 23rd Jan 2007, 07:15
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Cool

the rejection rate in the screening process for licences holders are far higher than for ab-initio candidates...
Just want to comment about this. You guys must realise that Air Mauritius is not a Flying school but an airline and when you join with your self sponsored licence they expect you to perform to a certain minimum level because they don't have the time and resources to train you in the sim and on line to do the basic stuff. They are reluctant to employ self sponsored guys because usually these guys are forced to fly the minimum hours to get their cpl and ir because of financial difficulties, especially at the end of the training, with the result that the ir training is barely enough to get through. You must realise that all flights being filed under ifr, it is important for those joining to have a strong ifr background/knowledge. Also, the aircraft you start on is relatively big and fast compared to the ones that you fly in a flying school or club, so you have to perform quickly and MK cannot afford to send you back to the sim for another training session!

Anyway, good luck to all of you out there. I can't tell you much about the selection process as I am not involved but I can tell you about the airline. Air Mauritius is not the best airline but certainly not the worse one. Don't listen to all the b!tch!ng on these websites. There are always 2 sides of every story. I have been arround here for a while now and am still here, for how long?? Nobody knows. But something is for sure, I don't regret it. Air Mauritius is the best start you can have as a career in aviation for a mauritian.

Cheers,

Loc
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Old 23rd Jan 2007, 19:10
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hi localiserreborn,
In defense of self-sponsored guys, surely if we've trained at a good school and have passed the IR flight test then we are performing to a standard suitable for ifr flying (some better than others, naturally)? Do the ab-initio's not train at a Flying School the same as sponsored guys do, and do they not do the same line training and type rating that the self-sponsored guys do? Do they not also fly the light training aircraft that we fly at our flying school? Do they fly more hours than we do as part of their training?
I suspect you are comparing experienced guys versus fresh-out-of-school self-sponsored guys, in which case I totally agree with what you have said. But if you are comparing self-sponsored versus ab-initio's surely they base it on who is "right for the company" (as well as the other stuff that goes on..you know what i mean).

In any case reiterating danny, thanks for the encouragement. Its much needed on these long, cold nights with a book on radio navigation in front of me!
UAU
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Old 24th Jan 2007, 03:12
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hey

hi UAU,
I do agree with you but Airlines will have a special eye to where u've been trained. Airlines are a bit skeptical of small flying schools or clubs and they speculate that the right standard has not been achieved and LOC is right in saying that sometimes licenses are granted by certain schools for the sake that one is in a difficult financial position or will be spending a fortune there.
Some flying schools do in-cooperate training such as aerobatics training and compulsory to do a NVFR amongst other stuffs before continuing with a CPL to improve one's confidence and to be good with hand&eye coordination and thus producing great pilots.
other schools or clubs (not all obviously) do not stress on all this in their flying syllabus.
That's why Airlines would prefer to take cadets who have been trained at flying schools which normally trained Airline cadets. I've been trained at GFS Melbourne and trust me they are really tough,"black or white no in between, if u get what i mean". They do training for a lot of Airlines, namely Qantas, China, Vietnam...."

On this token, I'm sure LOC was not comparing fresh out cadets to experienced cadets. He did put a good point across.

UAU, Danny or anyone could please suggest good books for the aptitude testing, i went on google, too many!!! I'm looking for one which resembles the format of the aptitude test that AirMtius conducts.

Thx and Good Luck to everyone.
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Old 24th Jan 2007, 05:52
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Hi again,

I don't mean to compare schools or comment on anybody's standard. I have no feedback or experience on this.

When air mauritius sends ab-initio cadets to a school, it has a bit of control on what training the pilots go through and are able to monitor progress and even stop training for guys (or girls) that do not make enough progress or who are weaker (although I think that they have a deal like a guarantee from 43rd that the cadets graduating from that school will make it to the aircraft type rating, that would explain the early chopping of some cadets last year...not confirmed so please consider only as a rumour).

Anyway, when you come in for the interview with your licence already acquired, mk does not know your background and your training and has to decide if they are going to spend money on you for your type rating and be satisfied with your performance. It is a bit of a gamble for the company and they want to keep all the chances on their side. This is why it is more difficult to get through this way.

But keep the faith as they say. Always keep your calm, look in control and beleive in yourselves and in your habilities. You have to show them that you are motivated, ready to learn from them and make a career starting with them, that you are reliable and that they are not going to waste their money on you and that you are going to make it to the left hand seat easily one day.

But don't show that you are over-confident and most of all, be honest. If you don't know the answer from one question, think about it for a moment and then say you are sorry you don't know and will look it up in your books.

There are no tricks during the interview and you will be asked to talk about yourselves and asked a few technical questions to test your knowledge. As I say, I don't know what is asked but I would not go in too much detail in the theory (maybe a little bit of aerodynamics) but check more practical things like flight planning, fuel requirements for our kind of operation, IFR procedures and rules etc...( guys who have been through the interviews lately should give you more details). I think that you need to make a good impression most of all.

Good luck to all and let us know on pprune how you go.

Cheers,

Loc
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Old 24th Jan 2007, 19:04
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aptitude books

Many thanks for the advice localiser! Pilotvd, try a search on this website, you should find something. I bought all my books from amazon.com, they definitely helped for the aptitude tests! Make sure you get a book on verbal reasoning! Thats a tough test, even for native English speakers!
UAU
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Old 25th Jan 2007, 05:00
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re:aptitude test

Thx,
I've been looking on this website as well, n found MICOPAT, "Test your own IQ" by Eysenck. pilapt prep and amongst others.
they r a bit different to what Air Mauritius had last time.
It consisted of an arithmetic which test a lot on graphical analysis or pie charts with 5 questions each, the "verbal" section but they didn't have grammar or stuff like that but instead had small passages with i think 5 questions of 4 statements each and you had to chose 2 true statement re the comprehension and finally a reasoning test( I'm not too sure how they call them).
the test came from abroad ASE or even ACE or something close to that, the organization is defintely based in UK from memory.
I went on the ASE website but they don't sell copies individually!
Last time I bought ARCO- Military flight aptitude tests which was ok but not concentrated on airline aptitude as I've described above.
cheers
VD
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Old 25th Jan 2007, 16:06
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aptitude books

Hi pilotvd, the verbal reasoning is not a grammar test. Its a reasoning test! Hence the excercises that you were talking about. Search for verbal reasoning on pprune, I found a few and they were very good. I think the important thing is to get your mind working, of course doing the same kind of questions does help. In general, look for books on Aptitude Testing rather than IQ testing.
Cheers
UAU
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Old 26th Jan 2007, 14:49
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thx UAU

Thx UAU.
I did order a few books on Amazon yesterday n got one on verbal reasoning as u mentioned.
hope they will be to what I'm expecting.
VD
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