Avion Express unilaterally changes Pseudo Contract while old one in force
Avion Express hires you with a Malta contract from a different company. The pay is 5000 +35 h CPT and 2500 + 20h FO. 6 month contract and no taxes paid. 7 days off net. You are promised 100 hrs, but in the 2015 summer this never happened. The hours were rather low, in the 60's. Lot's of time off in outstation and many standbys that are not paid and completely useless.
After a few months an email is received that the commuting is included in the off days, so the off days have really become 5.
After a few more months a mail is received that "starting tomorrow" pilots have a different contract, due to company needs and that now the pay is Power by the hour, which means paid per day when you work. The old virtual contract remains signed but a new one that nobody has seen or signed is in effect. No clarifications are sent, nobody knows what is going on. The requested or promised bases are seldomly given and one ends up living in a place different from the one he applied for. The company keeps pushing for 6 to 8 weeks consecutive days overseas, but the initial agreement is 3-1 Europe and 4-2 overseas. Nobody communicates and any mail with questions or requests usually goes unanswered. Caution! With a power by the hour the pay can get so low it can bankrupt a pilot. Since no minimum is guaranteed and the promises not kept , you are likely to spend 6 weeks on an island and make very little money, to the point of living on your savings.
Finally the new contract arrives for signature. With a different company not Avion. No days off are stated, no base in stated, nothing about positioning ticket payment . You do not know how much time you will be away from home. Now we have 2 contracts virtually signed over the Internet.
On a positive note, the other Pilots including those in management positions are nice people, but the management is a cheap dictatorship. Pilots are hard working professionals, are not respected by Avion and considered expendable cheap labor to be treated as such. CRM has taken a hard hit due to this behavior. Thank god aviation is picking up again and there other jobs. Make your choices wisely.