Be careful with the pay spiel lads, I have heard (but not seen) that the pay is highly geared towards hours flown. Hopefully you will have seen the exact details. Anyway, remember that new airlines have a habit of adding to the schedule only very slowly - esp in Macau. Meanwhile, remember that AMU and the regulator (AACM) are both either
or
which could add further delays.
Coming back to Hailer's points...
1) I know the A320s are LOI (ie semi-confirmed, ie should go through)
2) My point is that the PRC has relatively few expat pilots (eg the Brazilians in Shenzhen that havent yet gone to HK-cant figure out how they did their ground exams
). My point about mainlanders paying for expats was that mainland *passengers* would not pay more for their tickets for a gweilo cockpit crew.
3) AMU does rule 100% (even VIVA Macau which is non-subsidiary), because it has the monopoly concession and is totally in bed with the regulator. ie if AMU does not want it, they can make your life bloody hard for a long time (just ask Cebu - whoops
)
4) Air Macau said it would not compete with low-cost given its structural high cost (read low-brained
) base. Thats why it left SIN, KUL, only does Manila 4x/wk with no service, and Bangkok at a crazy time to keep its Korean agents happy. To be fair, Air Asia and Tiger are strong competitors. So they decided to set up a loco to compete on a level playing field..... or should I say to appease the politicians to add more routes meanwhile sharing the losses with partners (Stanley wants the pax in his Casinos, and probably cares little about airline profitability). MAX can only work if it has a large and shiny new fleet bought for a big discount (oops), or it is highly integrated into the parent to share many costs. Sadly, I fear it will be a loss leader for Stanley Ho, and the cheapest way to keep the politicians quiet for AMU.
I didnt think I would ever say this, but if you are already rated I would join the parent company first - esp since the pro-Brazilian movement has probably ended and 3 Captains have left within the last month.
ps I know sensible people who were hired by the MAX Chief Pilot, even relocated their families to Macau, only to be told on arrival that they were not expected there
(they got in, just, eventually...). He's a nice guy, but he is sly. So be careful you have it absolutely clearly in writing before you do anything. You have been warned.
