1 - Has the company addressed the schedulling issues? I'm talking about mainly of
A) The problems of not giving early landings on your last day so you're able to commute the same day back home or late (ish) starts on your first day so you don't have to waste a day off commuting earlier. This is still a 'nice to have'.There is no requirement, nor agreement, for the Company to finish you early on your last day but they do try to some extent. Allegedly you can swap trips with others to enable this but I've never actually heard of anyone doing this, mainly because the rest of your roster may not allow it and your offer of a NRT-XMN-OKA-TPE-NRT is not going to really attract someone with a NRT-SGN-NRT. Some pilots think because they live in Europe that they are entitled to finish early but this is not the case. No matter where you live you'll be wasting time travelling to or from home and it's the nature of the commuting contract beast.
B) The back of the clock flights and constantly shifting through night and day causing fatigue on crews. No. The 'back of the clock' flights you're going to get almost everywhere and certainly with cargo trips. These are not necessarily the problem and, in some cases they can be better than day flights (think noisy ATC with Shanghai versus quiet at midnight). The problem is the switching between days and nights and there has been nothing done to address this problem. It's not all the Company's fault. They have stupid restrictions like NRT INTERNATIONAL Airport closing at 2300 and not opening until 0600 and Naha (the promised 24 hour airport) shutting up shop for their power nap until 0130. They could swap quite a few pairings around and fly pax trips into freight in some locations but they don't.....mainly because they're (a)not very imaginative and (b)don't listen unless it's their idea (or think it is). So, expect night into day flights and don't say we didn't warn you.
2- About a year or so the upgrade pass rate was about 50%. Has anything changed recently?They seem to be pretty desperate given some of the people they've recently selected and, also, passed. It's running at well above 50%.
3 - I posted the email I received from Parc a couple of days ago about the new bonus structure. Can anybody provide more insight on how this is going to work? I don't know what more you need. After 3 years you get a $25000 bonus, probably paid in the April salary. When you're a captain you get $30000. Supposedly this is for 5 years but they're going to have to keep it going after that to make up for the fact that we've never had a pay rise. It's a very welcome addition and it will help with one of their goals i.e. retention. However, as far as attracting new joiners then it does little. You're not going to see any extra money for the first three years and, until the 767s are gone (think 10 years or so), then you're not going to see a 787 for the first 4 years or so of your contract, if that. The important thing to plan on is no bonus money and flying the 767.....no matter what shiny baubles the contract agencies dangle in front of you. Oh, and forget 3-4 years to the left seat of a 787. Do you think this address the issue of low pay on this contract many have been complaining recently? See comment above re retention, not attraction
Here's a really badly copy and pasted bit of info. You'll have to line up the years and money yourself as the lack of tabs is a pain in the butt.
Currently employed Captains : USD 30,000 per year for first 3 years increasing to USD 36,000 for remaining 2 years
Currently employed First Officers : USD 25,000 per year – payable once the F/O has provided 3 years’ service
F/Y of payment 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Captain 30,000 30,000 30,000 36,000 36,000
First Officer
(F/Y of hire)
2019 0 0 0 25,000
2018 0 0 0 25,000 25,000
2017 0 0 25,000 25,000 25,000
2016 0 25,000 25,000 25,000 25,000
2015 25,000 25,000 25,000 25,000 25,000
4 - Not a long ago the standard recommendation was that CREW was more suitable for Yank applicants and Parc for people from other nationalities. Then it changed to CREW being the preferential agency regardless of nationality (mainly because of Medical Insurance/LOL and support). Does this still apply? If one had to apply today would CREW still be the first option or has Parc improved the package? Parc has done nothing and Parc pilots never hear a thing. They pay regularly but then argue the toss when anyone dares to be sick and try to use the, supposedly, great insurance policy they have. You're far better off going with Crew, using their, genuinely, great medical cover and paying a bit for your own loss of licence. At least Crew pilots receive some emails and updates, whereas Parc are obviously saving paper by not emailing anyone or keeping them abreast of any plans etc. Definitely Crew, no matter where you live.
5 - I'm currently flying the 737NG with 3200tt and 1600h on type and that being the only airliner I've flown before. I remember reading some posts back that the the 767s used by AJX do not have speed/altitude tapes and and that the Flight Director is of the "chevron" type. Has anything changed? Still no speed/altitude tapes and crossbar? I ask this because I only had experience on full glass cockpit aircraft and it would need some getting used to instrument crosscheck with steam gauges and how should I best prepare for the sim evaluation. We have the speed tape but we don't officially use it because it's far too complicated for mortal man (read the Japanese didn't have them on the YS11 or 727 and they're not about to rush into crazy changes now). It is, of course, much more useful than the round dial and silly bugs but that's what we officially use. Flap retraction etc doesn't make use of the 'F' sitting on the speed tape but they do have their own, 'special' way of doing things (quelle surprise) and then wonder why we get flap overspeeds on retraction and the rest of the developed world doesn't. Altimeter is still the round dial and nothing on the EADI. You'll be glad, as most were, that the wing bar went some time ago and we are now blessed with the crossbars.