Specifically, does anyone out there fly for Lion Air? What have your experiences been like? I have the usual questions, safety, scheduling, maintenance, etc.
They desperately need pilots for the 739s... they often fly up to 110hrs a month (and insiders said, they fly more in some cases).
The MD80 crews now "fly by QRH", in the bad sense. They use it so often they know some parts off by heart and some are dying to leave. Several of them have refused offers to move to 739ERs due to extra bond conditions that will add to their already bonded situation...
Safety? They've tailscraped 1 739ER already officially... one was reported to have had a strike on take off and... continued from Manado to Jakarta.
Scheduling? It's schedule by SMS. Their computerized scheduling system is nice, but by the afternoon of the first day in the scheduling period, you'd be sent SMSes on revisions. Why? Well, it's not integrated to the rest of the company, and maintenance, delays etc, you'd figure out why.
Don't be surprised to receive calls of "Mister, we need your help! Please! Can you fly another 2 legs after this?" And refusing can result in the management types calling you to be "persuaded".
Now, Lion Air offered 75k USD for Indonesian pilots with NG ratings to join, guess what? No or very few takers.
Maintenance? Well, I hear for the 739s it's OK, but for the other types... forget it.
Flying in and out of Jakarta?
Don't worry about ATC delays, it won't happen with Lion (but it happens with everyone else!)... go and figure why...
Don't be surprised if you get nasty verbal abuse by other airline pilots in the air because Lion is "so nice" to ATC, that the flight 20NM ahead of you at the same flight lever gets bumped off so you can have a clear run, or that the airplane 15NM away on approach gets told to go around so that you can have "no delay in departures", or that you get bumped from #4 in sequence to become #1 only to see 3 traffic on TCAS suddenly on downwind...
With the 744s coming online, there's good news for the 739 crew, the jokers are leaving the type and punching their way (literally) to grab a spot on the 744.
Living in Jakarta? Make sure they'll give you transport pickup to the airport and back, otherwise call in sick on friday afternoon duty starts (crew delays due to traffic jams aren't unusual)
You can grab an apartment and share it, or go for one of those "room rents", my house is one, and I got 3 Aussies enjoying the free pool at the weekends and it's near the bars/cafes in Kemang, and it's a quiet neighborhood (though am moving out soon to a new house but also provide rooms for rent, but this one's still open)... You can grab one of those rooms for $100 - $300 a month with laundry, mineral water, own bathroom (hot & cold) airconditioning, 24hr access, cable TV and internet... and parking.
With that, you can save more out of a smaller salary than in other countries.
1. Indonesian DGAC had some restrictions on foreigners (non-Indo nationals) working as F/O within Indonesian airlines, specially those with no or few hours on type.
2. Salaries in Indonesia tend to be fairly low, unless you are particularly experienced in a particular area of work. So I would query the amount that you mention.
3. Seems rather expensive for an FAA 737 type rating. I should have thought max 12,000 USD would have been more realistic. Could you not do a 737NG rating elsewhere (as generally all FAA training is recognised by the Indonesian DGAC)?
4. I dont see any details regarding recruitment on the Lion Air website.
Yes there are restrictions, but there shortage still exist and recruiting foreigners is a way to relieve the pressure. However, the DGCA (yes they've changed their name to the DGCA now, no longer the DGAC), said they will allow for foreign pilots to be employed in Indonesia on a salary in par with locals. So far we have not heard more from the DGCA and airlines are eager to get clarity on this issue. Once that happens, if I were you, I'd go and apply somewhere else, although NG is limited to Garuda and Lion at the moment.
PK-KAR