They are now advertising for pilots with no experience on type. That obviously means there are few (or no) pilots out there with the previously required experience on type, or pilots willing to work in Japan on their pay and conditions.
Or are there?, is it the months of training required to obtain a JCAB licence thats putting some pilots off applying.
Thus my post putting the question out there. They have never required experience on type, so nothing has changed on that front and there is no ground-breaking news in the way the agents are advertising. There are plenty of people who don't want to work in Japan/away from their home country. Likewise, there are guys out there who don't think the pay and conditions are acceptable and, of course, there are those who think the training is too long. All of these are reasons for people not applying but none of us can categorically state exactly why they don't; that's just personal choice. What I can say is that a couple of years ago this job was one of the best going worldwide. Read back through this thread and you'll then see when things started to change for the worse and we put out the word that it is certainly not what it used to be and to consider carefully before applying. We all know the pilot world is small and word got around (as we told the Japanese and the agencies it would). I would suggest it is this 'word' that led to a reduction in applicants, rather than experience on type being required, which it wasn't. The good news is the drying up of applicants forced them into realising things were not good and certainly NOWHERE near where we were just 2 years ago and that they had to do something about it. They have dabbled around the edges and have made some positive changes. They addressed some of the issues but they do have a fair way to go yet. They are burying their heads in the sand regarding exchange rates and just hoping it all goes away; little realising everybody but the US dwellers are getting royally screwed by such a bad US$ rate and that this is affecting the decisions to apply. They are playing at reducing fatigue but they really have little comprehension of a proper scheduling system; not just the technical side of things but because, culturally, they think everything is okay and that we should dedicate our lives to The Company, as they do, little realising we don't give a crap about The Company and that it's just a job, not our reason for being. There are various other aspects of the job they need to improve but I'm not going to bore people further. Needless to say, this doesn't really affect you, Soab, because you're not coming here but there has been no change to their requirements of type experience and your stating that training is too long will not change anything, ever, in the way the Japanese conduct their business
Soab,
Mate, I'm confused by your agenda. You came to this thread, stated you were experienced on the 767 but you'd never apply to join a Japanese airline because the training was too long. You expressed surprise that any 'expats' would do the same and, effectively, told us, in your opinion, the Japanese have got it wrong with their licencing system. Why would you bother giving us the benefit of your perceived wisdom if it's not going to affect you? Have you got genuine questions or are you just here to 'sound off' and tell us what you think (even though you have no actual experience of what you're writing about and none of us actually asked)?
I will always try to answer any questions about AJX that I can and, in the spirit of giving a person the benefit of doubt, I've tried to answer your (semi) question/statement above but would ask that in the future you either ask genuine questions or don't bother posting. I'm sure those people considering AJX are interested in the views (good and bad) of those who have been through the Japanese system, whereas the unwarranted rambling of someone who hasn't and has stated he never will, are just not required i.e. this is not Soab's soapbox and your uninformed opinion will add nothing to the thread, nor help those who come here looking for information, rather than blather.