Expat FO's In India
MJR
Rightly, you have been spotting jobs in Flight on a weekly basis for FO's based in India - but all is not what it seems.
I am a British (born) citizen with a JAA licence, but also quailfy to fly in India due to my Indian roots.
However, the picture being painted for expats has been somewhat clouded by a number of opinions - some right, others wrong. At present, the only expats being hired are those with a min of 500hrs, on type, from the left hand seat.
About 3 months ago, I was in a meeting with the a gentleman called Mr. A K Saran - Head of Licencing at DGCA. He categorically stated that the DGCA has no plans for the forseeable short term to introduce a scheme to allow Expat FO's into India, due to the overwhelming number of newly qualified Indian FO's in the pipeline. To give you an example, at the last exam sittings in DEL & BOM alone over 2500 candidates turned up to sit the CPL/ATPL examinations! There is currently a practice enforced within the Indian flightdeck that states, at least 50% of the flightcrew must be Indian or of Indian origin. However, an Indian operator is now rostering some of its a/c for the first time with an all foreign crew. This had been kept on the QT by the DGCA, who allowed this particular operator to fill the void it was experiencing on a particular type of a/c in its fleet. Needless to say, word has now become public, & the likes of Flight are filling their boots, by telling you there are plenty of jobs available for you.
The reality of the matter is that if you arrive in India with a foreign passport, 500 hrs PIC on type, you still have to go through an Air Regulations examination, Class 1 medical, & the dreaded security clearance. Factor in approx 1-2 months for the latter alone.
To clarify the points made by "CaptBlowOut" - perhaps Jet is not the best option at the moment. A number of senior heads have stepped down from their posts recently, & have been filled by a couple of guys from Ethiad - who are not getting rave reviews on their man management skills. About the accomodation - most (expat) pilots with Jet I have spoken to in the last few days are not aware of this downgrading, & continue to enjoy life in either 5* hotels or excellent apartments.
Following up on the point made by "IRISHPILOT" - the pay is significantly greater than $US5000 (gross). There are a number of regular expat Capt's taking home a salary in the region of $US10-12,000 (net) - approx GBP6000.
In closing, I would follow the line set down by "VGK1945" & apply to agencies & airlines in India as the expat FO flood gates are going to open very soon.
Sorry to go on for so long - but I hope my coments clear up some of the questions raised on this topic.
Good luck to all
HPC