Originally Posted by
JOPI123
Hi fellows , I'm an ATR Captain trying to move to MK. Does someone know if MK give upgrades from ATR to Airbus? For foreigners ? Overall how is the airline for the ATR .. Thanks
The airline really appreciates and respects experienced captains who can keep our fleet flyable and maintain the safety reputation it has in Africa. This respect you will get it through a nice expat salary package on a beautiful island where the mean salary is €400 and you’ll be way above. But try to over rule here and they will bring you down to earth like the foreigner who recently instigated a strike and instead got sent back home with a letter requesting him back the monetary loss his action caused the company.
I believe at the moment career progression won’t be ideal for foreigners(especially if transition is what you’re looking) since recent financial bilan revealed company went through severe loss. ATRs are mainly to help newbies(Mauritian nationals) build flying experience to progress from FO to PIC on ATRs till they qualify next as FO for jets. Since they’ve recently recieved new planes, and with the most recent financial performance, they will try their best to train the nationals to fit those positions since local workforce is cheaper. But that said, knowing MK they will never trade on pilot quality, if you can bring a difference they will defo consider you though you will also be in competition with tons of other expats who’re as experienced as you before they decide to choose you or invest on training a national(The culture is nationals are a long term vision and expats temporary contracts, the most ideal expat for us is the one who is type rated ready to start and will cost us minimums).
Not forgetting, the amount of pilot graduates we have back on the Island who are unemployed(i myself an engineer with a Swiss PPL not willing to go commercial so soon when i see actual market for our locals though it has been my childhood dream) i believe its quite normal for them to prioritize locals if they had to invest on training you. That being said, Mauritius is a stable, harmonious with the sun around at least 300 days per year country. If you win a position as an expat here, it will be your golden ticket.
Good luck,
Jason.