Hi all, long-time lurker, first time poster here. I've been with BAA for a while, and people were hoping for some gouge from someone on property:
The four days off / month thing is indeed the policy at BAA. I caught the bit about someone receiving an email Saturday about their "day off" on Sunday. This is as close to "advance notice" as we sometimes get. Quite often, we'll be awarded a "day off" retroactively, when we see our weekly roster and find out that a day we sat reserve (and were not used) became a day off in the interest of contract compliance. In practice, we're pretty much on reserve all month, in our base city or on the road. The flip side of that is that most of us don't exactly do an exhausting schedule. Some planes do some very trying schedules, others are strictly ramp jewelry, most are somewhere in the middle.
Vacation time is a huge weak point - it's 28 days a year, subject to the whims of the flight department, schedulers, and aircraft owners. This issue has become especially combative in recent months. The current vacation regime has been in place since the beginning of this year, and they have made very few friends. For an operation that offers less time off than any of it's Chinese competitors in the private or airline worlds, this has led to some VERY frayed nerves.
For a region that is slowly coming around to the idea of commuting contracts, BAA seems to be going the other way entirely. A handful of pilots have been given month-on, month-off contracts under unique circumstances in the past. The unofficial word from the company is that they don't like the idea, and they appear to have no intention of offering them as a common option.
Luke said plan to come through and get your CAAC work done, and then "transfer to Macau if you want"? I find that claim HIGHLY suspect. Granting of requested base transfers is more or less unheard of at BAA without YEARS of kicking and screaming, as many of our Beijing crews can confirm. The crew that has recently been hired to fly a VP-tail plane out of Macau never got their CAAC licenses at all, and will be living in Shenzhen and taking the ferry boat to work. Macau basing has not been offered or even rumored. I can't exactly say Luke's lying, but the scenario you described from the job fair is without precedent at BAA. Flexibility is not the name of the game here. Pilots have, in the past, been awarded improved aircraft and/or new bases, but these arrangements are made at the convenience of the company, not the employee.
Outgoing pilots who have completed their contracts have run into issues ranging from failure to deliver final paychecks to refusal to release CAAC licenses. Just recently, several mainland-based pilots (including at least one who isn't even leaving) were delivered notice from the Hong Kong taxman, stating their intention to collect a massive chunk of money as BAA had not succeeded in arranging their exemption from HK taxes. That was very unwelcome news, as whatever other issues people have with BAA, the paychecks come on time and are fairly generous. The latest word is that the company is helping get the issue settled with some degree of cooperation, at least in these most recent cases.
Frank's numbers on pilots shuffling off for bigger and better things seem believable. Aside from those currently out the door, most people here seem to have the same attitude - that this isn't such a bad job to have, while you're looking for your next job. Pilots for years have pointed to the same issues that, if fixed, could make this a very good place to work. Some things, like the pay, have improved in my time here. Other things seem to be sliding the other way. The number of good people in the office still outweighs the bad in my opinion, but they're still struggling with the kinds of problems common with other Chinese operators. And the bad ones can be VERY nasty indeed.
I can certainly recommend distressed job seekers come take a look, as well as people who receive an offer on a good type rating and acceptable base IN WRITING before arriving on property. But many pilots here, including some of the old guard, are exploring their options. I'd suggest all prospective newcomers do the same.
Last edited by Request Progressive; 24th Oct 2014 at 17:56.