Its been a while and there have been several pms to me so I will update.
Currently there are about 30+ Expats at Tianjin in various stages of training and document processing. The company is trying hard to be hospitable and courteous to the pilots. This does not mean that things run smoothly it just means there are no bad intentions. You can stil be fined for QAR violations but this SEEMS to be only after a few violations. Some QARs are finable every time and others are not as important. The CCARs prohibit fining or punishment for QARs so this is a clear idea of what happens and the authority of a pilot in China.
The A320s are arriving and there is some question of how many will arrive. The Chinese government and other airlines have a lot of influence over what flies where and how often. There could actually be a problem of where to fly the new airplanes. Backrooms dealings are everywhere but here in China it is daily business. The new Chinese leader has even made a stinging spotlight to this Chinese culture. If a situation is one sided or unfair it means nothing in China.
The city is growing and cleaning up, but living in China is having one foot in the modern world and one foot 50 years ago. Just when you think everything is shaping up and you are enjoying your morning coffee you will look out your captain's window to see a kid at his mother's urging take a dump on the ramp next to your plane. It doesn't faze me anymore but you will have to get used to it and many other things here in China.
The medicals and checkride continue to be your biggest road block to China. The medicals are becoming increasingly difficult. With partial strokes experienced inflight China has now mandated Carotid Artery sonograms. MRIs are also being added to the list. Getting your medical is difficult but keeping your medical is just as difficult not to mention the false positive testing that has occurred lately. The good part is it is a free medical and you can at least know if something tragic is wrong. However as a friend at Chengdu was recently told he had too much plaque in his heart only to be told he was healthy back in the States. Or another friend in Shanghai who has been told he either has cancer or epilepsy from a brain scan and again told by International doctors that he is completely normal.
Once you get here you have to maintain your medical and that decision is not only up to you but your airline and the CAAC. You really have little control over your future and the relationship of the CAAC and your airline can make the difference. Gifting and "respect" to poorly paid government officials is common business practice in China. You won't do it but your company works the magic on your behalf. How much magic they work is not up to you and again the control of your fate rests with someone else. It becomes very difficult as you age to retain your medical in China. It is very possible and it does happen that people arrive here only to be sent home within six months because of the medical. If you have a good job at home and you have reasonable debts then weigh this carefully in your decisions. You are taking a risk coming here.
There are some upgrades happening from the E145 to the E190 and those are only the pilots who have been here for a few years. No new E145 guys are upgrading yet. No E190 pilots have upgraded to the A320 and there is no plan update for the A330. The A330 is a thought but not reality yet. Remember even if you have a plan, the money, and the equipment to fly in China it does not mean that it jives with the plan of the other airlines and their government allies. Just because Tianjin has all the ambition and resources to have many A320 does not mean it will happen and many things in the decisions are completely out of the control of the management. You don't just apply for routs in China. You have to court your superiors and hope that the other major airlines don't mind you. Its not capitalism or socialism. China is an oligarchy.
We did have a hijacking on the airline it is most likely a target again for revenge. An ethnic minority of 6 people tried a 9/11 style takeover of a plane. The plane had undercover security and people helped over power the hijackers. China is far from a unified country.
Hiring windows in the States:
This will be a big decision for the people now being hired in China. Being at the beginning of a rush in the seniority window in the States can make the difference of a pilot making 40-80K as a first officer or 80-120k as a captain. Or sitting reserve at a base away from home or being a line holder at home in base. Seniority means everything in the States and in China it doesn't mean much.
Shortly in the US there will be almost 1000-2000 captains retiring every year and this is without the next growth cycle. Getting behind those young guys will forever impact your career realizations. There is no crystal ball. You must play the odds of what you know today and what the future is projected to look like.
China is a temp gig and about the time they are catching up here the US will be at the last parts of its boom. Time your arrival with care but time your departure more carefully as you could be left out of the big swing upwards. This will impact you even more because I do not believe in the next 30 years that the retirement age of pilots will remain the same and retirement age will continue to increase.
China realizes this and I expect the salaries will increase here even more than currently advertised. With this in mind I fully expect that in the next contract offer will be the last rise then you will only see moderation of the contract offerings. This next one or two offers will most likely be the peak and in my estimation China starts catching up. The E190 is paying significantly higher than it should and this is purely business. It will change downward faster than it goes up. Don't expect to be here 10 years at this salary rate and with these holidays. The norm is more like 10k per month with a 6/2 contract.
There is discussion of making the holidays a solid schedule instead of a on request basis. There are still many errors and mistakes in the operations and office work of the company. The training is being improved but it is a completely self study course.
The flying is a full schedule. Imagine your two weeks of at the beginning of the month only to return to two weeks of solid flying of about 65 hours. The E190 is transitioning to take some of the E145 routes and some 6 sector days are appearing. The A320 even has some 6 sector days. I expect the E145 to be slowly phased out with the E190 taking its place and the A320 taking the E190 place.
AQP is not fully integrated in China. When that time bomb happens the upgrade times required half. When the F/Os are allowed to land and takeoff and basically fly the airplane without instructors the time will reduce more too. This factor is coming and when I can't even guess. It will happen and the company is pressing hard for this program. When this happens the time length of your money dreams just got cut by 75%.
The company has now confirmed 5 day trips and it is now in the new contract. To help with recruitment we have suggested an option for education. Guys with families here are getting killed for tuition. Maybe more is to come as other contracts are offering education allowances. Education at international schools can take up to half a paycheck with 2 or more children.
Most from my original posts have unchanged and it becomes more a marathon of personal tolerance. There are some things that are still outlandish like fuel spills on the tarmac where the driver doesn't want to move the truck and is cleaning up the spill that is under the plane and truck with paper towels as the fuel spills out faster than he can clean it up. Then they want you to start the plane over the pool of Jet-A. Or the impossible passengers who yell and push the flight attendants because of delays and the non interference policy of the police makes them useless. The passengers will then camp out in your plane for hours hoping for some kind of compensation in the tune of 15USD. Yelling in China is normal. It does not mean a fight its just yelling and they do it all the time. Then there is the who "Face" issue. SOP and CRM is known but not understood. The expats don't help much because when they first arrive they are standard pilots but after about 3 months you stop trying to fight it and fly the Chinese way. (smoke if you gotte'm) You will be pushed to exceed flight hour limits being told no worries we make everything OK.
Make no mistake. China is not paying you all this money for nothing. They have a business need and you are a temporary solution. The money you make will be earned in your flying and non flying duties. There are a lot of situations here outside flying that will not just try your patience but run over it with a truck and then back up over it again and again.
Choose wisely, sit down with your family, talk with your colleagues, and make a decision not based today's money but the whole picture.
Last edited by pilotss2001; 4th Dec 2012 at 08:59.
Reason: spellling roster addition