MEA Cadets updates?

[alfredo sauce]

Hi,
I was just wondering if there is anybody out there who knows any details that they would like to update us on concerning the MEA cadet program. Such as: how many cadets got through the selection? have they started training in Jerez yet? are there still plans for another cadet program? any other information regarding the topic (or MEA in general) is more than welcome.

thankyou

[meadreamer]

someone told me that they started training in january and they were about 10 , but this isn't sure
there might be a selection this summer, will you apply ?
i think that your application would have been accepted during the last summer even if you were 19 , but you must have completed sophomore level....

[alfredo sauce]

Thanks for the info meadreamer!:)
If there is a selection this summer I will definitely apply. I applied last year but I was 19 and I sent them an email telling them this and asking them if they would have another selection round they replied with this email:

Dear Mr. Gebara,

Although it is a possibility, we cannot confirm at the moment that we
Will have the same program next year.

I encourage you to apply anyway on our website www.mea.com.lb under
Careers and we will have your record in our database.

This will not be enough if you need to apply in the future, you should
Follow up our advertisements or our website.

Thank you for your interest in Middle East Airlines.


I am currently in my 2nd year of university..... I just hope more then anything that I can eventually fly for mea.
So what is your story on the topic, did you apply last year? Are you currently a cadet? Are you working with mea? Or are you just as your name suggests an meadreamer, like me:ok:

Once again thanks for the info!

[meadreamer]

well i want to apply also next year but i don't know if they wiilll accepte my application because i will be by the summer only 19.5 yrs.
but i have completed sophomore level...i will try .....
did you send an application last year and it was refused ?
i think that those who are selected have personnal connections within MEA ( as usual in lebanon !!!)
this is why i think that i don't have a chance to get it but i will try !
for your info : they accepted only 1 degree of myopia for this last selection

[alfredo sauce]

Last year before i applied i sent them an email asking them what i should do because i was 19, and i asked them if they would make an exception and their response is the email posted above. So i did what they told me and applied, i didnt get a response, but i wasnt expecting one, but try anyways mabye they wont notice......my family in lebanon told me that i have like two distant connections to mea, one is an a330 captain and the other is in the administration...I have never met any of them but you can bet that when i go to beirut this summer i will try to become very close and friendly to them :D........ Anyways about the connections i think you still got a chance, if you show them your the best they will take you over anybody with connections, but the again it is lebanon.......on the issue of myopia what is mea like when it comes to health, i know my eyes are not 20/20 but close to it and i dont need glasses(i dont know if i am myopic, i will have to find out), other wise im in good health.

[meadreamer]

i personnally know someone who was 28 years old last summer ( so he was over aged by 1 year) and they accepted his application , but he failed the first exam.....
so i think that exeptions might be made but you must go to see them personnaly...

[alfredo sauce]

That’s good to hear give it a try! Last year i would have gone out of my way to see them personally but i was not in the country, hopefully this year it will workout. The person you knew who was 28, I don’t know if he had a CPL, but if he did the maximum age would have been 30, but give it a try.
Do you know if you fail the exams one year can you try again next year?

[meadreamer]

the guy who is 28 dont have a CPL....but he told me that the math and physics were very difficult
i don't know if you are allowed to re-apply i you failled the exam before
i hope it is not allowed !!

[alfredo sauce]

interesting....did he recomend any areas in the math and physics to study most......You are attending a university in lebanon right? isnt the exam based on the lebanese bacalurette? and do they actually have two spearate exams for the math and physics because the two subjects are tied togeather?

[meadreamer]

interesting....did he recomend any areas in the math and physics to study most......You are attending a university in lebanon right? isnt the exam based on the lebanese bacalurette? and do they actually have two spearate exams for the math and physics because the two subjects are tied togeather?

he didn't recommed but i will ask him soon......i don't have a lebanese baccalaureat , i have a french bac....i am in AUB ( by the way the academic test were at AUB and i asked the administration recently if they have a copy a the exam and they said no )
and i think that math and phycis are not linked in the exam

[MEA321]

Marhaba ya shabab,

Maybe I can answer a few of your questions since you both seem really eager to be flying for MEA.

The cadet pilot scheme for this year will be just like last year, starting in July, exams in September, etc. MEA needs more pilots and there will be a shortage of flight crew due to upcoming retirements. MEA is also expanding its fleet in the near future with an A330 order coming next year and possible regional jets (maybe embraer) in the upcoming two or three years.

The exam itself is based on the Lebanese Baccalaureate, the math and physics exams are sat together and you are given two hours to complete the two exams (40 questions each).

If you can get through the math and physics exams ok then you will have a good chance of progressing, given that your English is good and you are good at the quick math and spatial orientation exercises.

The cadets that you are mentioning are already started in Jerez, they are going in batches of 5 each month. So they should be done by the middle of next year in time for the type ratings which will be done at CAE Dubai, and finally the line training on the MEA aircrafts themselves.

[meadreamer]

hi
thanks MEA321 for your infos
some rumors are saying that the selection for this year might be eearlier than the last one , is it possible ?
how much do you think personnal connection were involved in the selection ( as usual in lebanon ) ?
i will be 19.5 years by the summer ( i completed sophomre level) will my application be accepted ?
is it 100% sure that the process andd criteria will be tha same as last year ?

[meadreamer]

i just want to add something : there is something illogic in the requirement (for last year) : first they say that the applicant must hold a lebanese Baccalaureat ( or equivalant ) and must have completed sophomore level .
then they say that the minimum age is 20 years ! how come ? logicaly at 18 you have your Baccalaureat and at 19 your finish your first year of university . so should'nt the minimum age be 19 ????

[alfredo sauce]

Shukran MEA321!!

I noticed in your profile that you are a pilot for MEA. You were once in our shoes, do you have any advice on how someone could prepare for the quick math and spatial orientation exercises?........Also are those the regional jets that MEA will use for the Pheonicia Express airline? And finally how come MEA decided to do the testing by itself, instead of letting Flight Training Europe do it for them, which is, if im not mistaken, what all the other airlines do that sponsor cadets do?

Once again Shukran MEA321.....your living the dream!!! :D

[alfredo sauce]

Hey guys!!!!
The Careers section in MEA has been updated with the new criteria.
meadreamer you are in luck!!!! the minimum age this year is 19!!! maybe they were reading our posts.:ok:

here's the link:
http://www.mea.com.lb/MEA/English/Misc/Careers.htm

I have only one problem with the new criteria and it has to do with the due dates for the the applications. The online application is due on april 16th (thats fine it only takes a few minutes to do, i already did that), the exam fee is due on april 22nd, and the complete documentation is due on april 28th......I have a problem here because i attend university in canada and my last exam for this year is on april 20th, so i will be really busy during the month...im just hoping the selection will be at a significantly later date so that i will have time to go over my math+physics skills, to travel to beirut and recover from jet lag (7hours!!!) in time for the selection. anyways i'll pull it off.

So what do you guys think of the new criteria?

[meadreamer]

WOOW
THat is really amazing !!!! i wasn't expecting it to be so much earlier that last year ?????? i will start soon my papers....what is different this time is that females are allowed !!!

i think that the exams are in the begining of May...so you have time alfredo sauce

[alfredo sauce]

i was hoping that the dates would be like last year so that way i could have some time, but im still glad!
ya this year females are allowed it might have to do with the fact that there will be a pilot shortage and that in the last cadet round (according to older posts i read) MEA was hoping to get around 30 cadets and they ended up with 10.

**note to all: my post is not ment to be offensive in anyway im just stating what reasons i believe that MEA had to allow females to apply this round, because in the previous cadet round they weren't** <----- just covering my ass

[meadreamer]

if the exam (academic)will take place at AUB , most probably it will be before may 26 because starting of may 27 the final exams for AUB students begin and all the room are full

[Air Polygamy]

Aaand ...
What if you don't hold a Lebanese nationality? Are you autommatically disqualified?
I'm holding an FAA CPL and am fluent in Fench English and Arabic... Does it help or no?

[meadreamer]

holding a lebanese nationality is imperatif

[alfredo sauce]

Air Polygamy, MEA will only take lebanese nationals.

meadreamer if the academic exams are at AUB again, don't you think that it would be more practical for MEA wait until AUB finishes its final exams. Because i'm sure a large number of the applicants will be from AUB and having the academic exams before the AUB final exams would get in the way of those applicants studying for their university exams

[meadreamer]

it is also a possibility...dunno

[meadreamer]

i have a question for you alfredo : how are you going to get a recent civil status if you are not in lebanon as well as a judicial record ?

ciao

[alfredo sauce]

well i spent most of my life here in Canada so it would make more sense for me to send my canadaian one.
i emailed MEA to ask them on what date they are planning to have the examinations and they told me that as of now they are unsure but they are expecting it to be in early to mid May