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Old 2nd Mar 2013, 03:32
  #147 (permalink)  
Geebz
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
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India can be a tough place to work, especially Mumbai, but there are plenty of worse places to consider doing a contract and you will overall appreciate your experience there even if to say, "been there, done that."

Having flown for Jet Airways on more than one contract, I would suggest you go into the opportunity with an open mind. Some things they do better than Western carriers and will sort of blow your mind. While other things they do will make you laugh. No airline is perfect and the grass is always greener I suppose.

You can expect your contract to get violated here and there but it will be mostly honored. That is the same in the Western world so no nothing new there. When Jet violated my T&Cs I gave it back to them in work ethic, or lack thereof. So what goes around comes around... and they knew it. A lot of times directives to cut this or that from the pilot T&Cs come from way above. And those upper level execs are pretty much clueless as to what results come from screwing over skilled equipment operators. The mid-level managers are powerless in the process so they don't seem all that bothered when a pilot loses motivation to help out. Just the way it goes in business.

The government there has done a stellar job of helping Indians to be proud of their country vs 10-15 years ago. Often that comes across as offensive or racist to the foreign expat worker. But that is government's job, to promote nationalism, so I can find little fault there in both their government or their citizens. It's harder for us Westernes to understand that because so many millions of foreigners, especially South Asians, are welcomed in our country with open arms while in India it is the complete opposite. The problem lies within when those who work in the gov't infrastructure, or corporate institutions, refuse to accept criticism or suggestions because they believe in "the Indian way". I think that's a lot of the reason of why aviation there has sort of stalled in it's growth trajectory, as well as the overall Indian economy (see: India headed for economic doom, prominent US thinktank says - The Times of India). Sometimes they seem to want to reinvent the wheel when there are far simpler ways to address certain problems. But it's their country, so let them do with it what they want.

If you accept employment there, just understand that you are a very temporary contract worker. They don't have anything against you personally, unless your an a$$hole, but they just want you out sooner than later because they want to "Indian-ize" everything they can.

The irony is, as much as the younger pilots complain about foreign pilots, they often loathe their Indian senior commanders, many of which are Machiavellian or autocratic in their cockpit management style. So while they complain to their friends about "foreign pilots delaying their command training", they equally complain about the Indian commanders who won't give them any flying or who bite their hand every time they assert themselves in a CRM situation.

Last edited by Geebz; 2nd Mar 2013 at 23:57.
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