The RJ is a great aircraft to handfly, but it is old, smelly (oil leaks into the packs...) and unreliable. It's also unnecessarily complicated, with lots of gotchas. But it's bullet proof (probably literally) and there is no aircraft I'd rather be for a major failure.
The airline is has some major plans for the future, however LCY based pilots will probably not be moved onto the SSJ until 2017. It also does not seem clear at this stage that these future plans are of value to pilots other than that they get to keep their jobs while working harder for less money.
The roster hasn't been 6:3 in LCY for a couple of years. The pattern changes every season (LCY only), but has been so changeable that you will struggle to plan anything beyond the present roster. LCY guys have averaged around 109-112 days off this year (vs 122 on a stable 6:3 in other bases). A number of guys have been on 7:2:7:2 patterns recently, all of which are 7 days trips. They will still call you up to work your days off.
Annual leave has always been awkward - you need to request 6-12 months in advance at specific times. It is unlikely that you will get what you request anyway. If they don't issue it, they will tell you that you didn't use it and you may be told that you will lose it.
The salary in ppjn is probably more or less correct because it hasn't changed since 2009. Pay is weighted towards sector pay, but since a 15% cut in 2009 there has only been a 2% increase (in basic only) earlier this year. Despite hemorrhaging experienced guys the main effort seems to be on putting pressure on the remaining guys to work harder. This has had a spectacular effect on retention. To my knowledge they've only managed to recruit 2 DEC's.
Almost all the First Officers you fly with will be 150h cadets. They're nice, but, well, they're the guys and girls who failed to get a job flying an airbus or 737 (why else would you pay for an RJ rating?). It's a complex aircraft, LCY is a cat 3 airport, and FMRS can't be used to plan the rosters because they could't operate the schedule if they did....
Uniquely for LCY routes, you will have to wait for scheduled transport to pick you up to got to hotels - even on minimum rest overnights. You'll need to plan carefully for early starts as well - a number of hotels don't supply more than a croissant and coffee to get you through the day. Crew food is also fun - until recently it was a pot noodle and a kitkat. It has improved very marginally - the pot noodle has been replaced by cold rubber chicken that no-one eats. .
LCY had a great bunch of people, and had the best atmosphere of the CityJet bases, but almost everyone has left recently, so there's not so much of that left any more. It's mainly exhausted new captains and starry eyed youngsters these days.
You will be required to use your own mobile to sort out the numerous problems that crop up with the operation. You will be given an ipad based EFB which is OK, though the UI is less than intuitive, and the app crashes if you rotate the screen :-/
However, they will honor the roster, there is no rostering agreement so you are not obliged to accept changes, they will always pay you correctly and on time, and, well, it's not the best, nor the worst paid job in aviation. Yet. Though that does appear to be the objective - on reflection, I'm not sure that this is where one wants to find oneself during the next downturn.
Feel free to PM me.
Last edited by Wash; 22nd Nov 2015 at 19:47.