All those negative comments above have no grounds and come from ppl who either created an account for the sole purpose of those comments (they have no other comments anywhere in pprune), or left the company even before they started flying or so they say.. (April was a dead month still..).
Company isn't a shangri-la, and you have good colleagues and so-so colleagues (technically), though the great majority are good pilots. But one thing the company has is a good working environment, open culture, and 95% of the guys and girls, front or back, are just nice ppl to work with, and there is tolerance amongst piers, whatever their background. Lots of pilots with a respectful background, as well as Senior CC. A good bunch of them flew in Europe and Asia before. Thanks to COVID. Another good bunch come from Avion and Smartlynx (go figure).
Now, being a Lithuanian company, it is expected that most of the management positions are held by Lithuanians, as well as some key operational positions. If for naughting else, they've been in the company since the beginning.
Yes, there is politics play, JUST LIKE IN ANY OTHER COMPANY for ***** Sake... But it will only affect you, if you yourself decide to play that game and crawl that ladder.
If your goal is flying, you're golden.
Politics isn't my forte anyways.
The negative comments in previous posts are simply racist, to put it bluntly.
Relationship with the office is also OK. Open communication at all times. Very operational, functional, and no bul**** added.
Company is growing at a very respectful rate as well. 12 ac in 2 years of existence, 18 aircraft leased for 2024 operations ( A320. More if you count A330).
In 2 years got IOSA and pre approval on CAT3 ops (fully approved by end of summer after we all undergo OCC).
Contracts with clients are solid, some of them signed for 3 years starting 2023. Apparently clients are happy with our performance, specially compared with the competition, who couldn't keep up with their own goals. Just saying.
You can still choose bases of operation, thou not garanteed.
20/10 minimum, though it can go up to 30/15 by contract (specially when positioned out of europe), but the normal is maximum 22/11. If you ask to get the 20/10, crewing has no issues clipping the other days out. As in any other airline, we're also short on crew.
Aircrafts aren't new out of the factory, as in any other ACMI, but they are decent, and there's an effort to have decent maintenance actions from top management down.
Relaxed flying, OK pay, possibility to earn extra money in summer with extra duty, some time-off in winter, 20 extra days off in winter as well, 14 days of payed sick leave, work insurance (with medical), loss of licence insurance (100k top). Negotiating ID travel now.
Company is flying mostly for holidays flyers. That's like 7 to 9 days of flying per month, 70h. 10 more h if you're FO due to lack of FOs everywhere. 2 sectors only per day.
Hotels we stay in are decent enough, min 8.5 rating on Booking and similars.
Now. It IS an ACMI. There is no such thing as an employment contract, just like in ANY OTHER ACMI out there. Reason has to do with Industry risk. ACMIs take the other airlines risks away, and they can't take that risk themselves. Taxes are up to each individual and all pay is legal from the company side. If a specific person doesn't pay their taxes, that's their own responsibility, as it should be. All tax related information is provided by the company and the broker.
Despite this, the company does make an effort to treat crews with respect and decency, and we are treated as employees, not contractors.
Those are the rules of the game. Don't join if you don't like them. Easy.
My pay is all legal and I pay my own social security and income taxes.
Could the money be better? Yes!
Then again, I'm flying max 9 days a month, and have the prospect of spending 3 to 5 months at home with family... do your math.
At the end of the summer season new contract conditions will be offered. An improvement is expected.
Obviously, some guys will leave.
But the main reason will be due to either not coping with a commuting roster 20/10, or a dream job opens up again (home based, or back to ME or China or somewhere out there).
Assessment for pilots:
- 100 Q test, 90% technical, 10% ATPL
- Psycometrics, personality, etc. Nornal stuff.
- Panel interview (1 HR + 1 TRE)
- Psychologist interview
- Simulator assessment (LOE + PPC)
All done online except for the simulator.
ACMI is an interesting business to say the least.
Safe landings, and remember to flare once in a while.
Last edited by Madp1lot; 3rd Aug 2023 at 01:14.