Rwandair? Any info
 

Anyone got a contact for Rwandair? How do they recruit DECs on the -800 and who to deal with.
Also, any info on the Ts n Cs would be appreciated.

DEC's, who fly both the 500's & 800's, are taken on a contract basis through Rishworth Aviation. Capts salary 6700€ + 1000 € for accomodation.
Roster 6wks On 2 off, provide your own flts through ID interline tickets with Brussels Airlines if you want to commute to Europe.
Assessment in BRU, at your expense, they USED to provide ticket to go to Kigali if successful, but apparently last bunch of "lucky " candidates from Serbia paid their own (at a cost of ?000€ ) so worth holding out for a Freebie there, as that is a bit of a p1sstake.
Had a colleague who went, and didn't stay long. He liked the place & the people, but. . . . . the Chief Pilot is Greek & is surrounded by a Greek Mafia. Flights are allocated/re-allocated depending on the social calendar of the Greek Mafia. Aircraft make ETOPS flts even though no ETOPS approval. QRH's on the 500's are several years out of date, and written in Polish :eek: as the aircraft came several years before from LOT. WX radar U/S seems to be OK (in Africa ! ) duty hours are expected to be disregarded if Chief Pilot is sobering up & you are called to do his flt. If you are not a Line Trainer & you have to show up to do the Boss's flight, consider yourself henceforth promoted to Line Training Capt.

It all sounded a load of fun :rolleyes: & I began to understand why his tenure there was (by choice) a short one.

Sometimes we have gotta do, what we have gotta do.

If you do, I wish you the Best of British.

Only good news is that he was paid in full when he left (& it was Rishworth! ) & the "Local management" thanked him for his feedback, but doubt if they did the next logical step & disbanded the Greek Mafia & appointed someone who might do something serious to improve their safety & professional standards.

Thanks for the excellent feedback!

I'll have to think long and hard about this one..... Have thought, and moved on!

Thanks again for the heads up!

They recently elected a new board, including the former Ethiopian Airlines's CEO Girma Wake. Since 3 years, they are putting the order in the house:p. They are still a young airline. From mid 2012, Turkish Airlines will help them in management, training and maintenance sectors.

But i agree with you everything it's not perfect,:confused: (this is Africa:ugh:) but they are trying to improve the airline.

Turkish :ooh: allied to the Greeks :hmm: Oh yes, looking forward to a definite improvement there :rolleyes:

I think they started with a US guy to start the 737 program. Sounds like a lot of other programs in Africa...I knew one where the chief pilot hadn't been to the sim in over 5 years.

To all on PPrune.
Go and sign up to Register at Africa Aviation / Afrika Lugvaart
Much better for us African Aviators.

Hi everybody,
Just to get more info, what are the minimum requirements to join? Although a small airline and hopefully progressing and growing in the near future, is it considering to hire for long/short term? Is any experience on jet ok, or specifically on B-737 5/800? JAA/FAA/ICAO.?
Even in the end if you're no longer needed, any chances to stay or not?
If anybody knows anything regarding this, would be grateful!
Cheers

Basicly Rwandair needs dedicated and experienced pilots. Hour builders and "pay to fly" types please shy away. And as with any airline, it is hard to look and give job security for the next 20 years..Talk to Rishworth and see if you fit. If successful you can have a chat with the Chief Pilot. And bear in mind Africa is not for everyone.

Thx for your reply Latetonite,
You're right about job security,it's unpredictable..
I'll check it out with Rishworth, see what they say
Thanks anyway!

I have an assessment coming up with this airline soon.

Anyone who knows how I can prepare myself best?

Concentrate on the FCOM or the ATPL theory or give both 50%….
I don't have enough time to read the full ATPL theory again (would take 5-6 months) :ugh:

How was the assessment?

Anyone know what recently happened in Lagos? Rwandair did an emergency descent. Crew heard communicating using oxygen masks.

Been here 3 months now:

stay away from Rwandair, chief pilot Charalampos (greek) and his well known surrounding greek maffia. They are used to take ALL the flight to Dubai (2 and 3 overnights weekly) and if you complain they'll fire you.

What do they ask: maximum flexibility, no comments and basically shut up, no comments, keep your personal phone ON even during the night and after your 10 hrs duty (they might need you again and is better to say "YES, capt. Charalampos I'll do whatever you ask me").

What do they offer: late salary, normally around the 15th of the next month in agreement with the maffioso Torkel WAAK Rishworth, very bad roster with split duty, a lot of night flights, very bad organization (they are greeks, what do you expect?) and no chance to have an explanatory chat with the chief pilot. Is funny when they say the serbians are maffioso.

Many pilots left already and I'll be the next one.

Pilot 415, you are building in a few lies to disguise yourself. People who are there 3 months probably do not like that. Besides, in all your other posts under your name, you seem to be so negative about every company you came in contact with, that maybe a career change would make you happier.

Taking Exception To Certain Posted Comments
 

Hello Everyone,

I've been reviewing this thread - and feel it is time to put a few misconceptions (and a few downright lies)... to bed..!

Firstly I am a B737 Captain here in Rwandair and I am the one of several Western European Captains currently on the payroll - So for what it is worth here are my comments..

Captplaystation - Some of your observations are correct (salary, contract agency, commuting roster).. and then you go and spoil your integrity by spouting off a lot of rubbish.
It may be very smart of you to hide behind "One of your colleagues comments/observations" - But at the end of the day you become the individual responsible for posting virtiol and diatribe that is both incorrect and offensive.:ooh:

Please be aware of the following Captplaystation:
- Commuting flights are paid by the airline directly and not through interline basis..Period!
- On my roster, I do not find myself disadvantaged in any way by my Greek management and/or colleagues.
- I have NEVER seen or heard of the Chief Pilot of this airline in any way under the influence of alcohol.
- I have never had to alter my schedule to conform to the "Social Calendar Of The Greek Mafia"
- The B737-500 aircraft contain absolutely no Polish language and the QRH's are standard Boeing...In ENGLISH..
- Rwandair does not fly any ETOPS routes at present- therefore that comment is total rubbish.

You might think it is clever to spout off this cr@p - but at the end of the day all you do is make yourself look foolish.
Do you think for one second that the local senior management of this national airline does not have it's foreign staff under the microscope and would tolerate the behaviour from the Flight Operations Management that you are subscribing to..??
If indeed you do subscribe to that belief, I wonder what you are smoking..:bored:

pilot415

The fact that you choose to utilise an anonymous forum to state individual names and status within a national airline in an offensive and degratory manner is frankly outrageous.
I do hope that you are identified.. and this aspect of your behaviour becomes known within the industry.:sad:

OK - here is the bottom line - and I state it only as I see and experience it.

Firstly - I am continually amazed by the "so-called professionals" in this industry that stoop to nasty, stereotyped and (in some cases) downright racist comments... and think that is clever to do so.

I consider myself fortunate that I have a European in charge of Flight Operations here - That provides an effective "buffer" between myself and local senior management - That prevents me always having to be diplomatic (when I'm tired or frustrated)- and gives me a reserve of patience that might otherwise be difficult to preserve.

It must be appreciated that in any expatriate environment... frustration with local culture and due processes can cause friction - The European management here go someway to alleviating that stress and are very approachable in "smoothing out" potential pitfalls in that regard.

Finally - It is my experience that if you behave in a professional, respectful and approachable manner - you will benefit personally in your association with the Chief Pilot and his staff.
I find this statement of "Greek Mafia" and other such nonsense as exteremly offensive and it is not in keeping with the perception of professional attitude and behaviour that certain individuals posting their comments here, seem to prescribe to.
On a personal level - I have found all of my European colleagues here very helpful and indeed the local Rwandan staff are also a pleasure to work with.

You will note that I choose to use the definition "European"... as opposed to "Greek Mafia" - But then again, perhaps I'm a bit more mature and responsible than some of the other posters on this thread.

Regards
ScottyD:O

Told it, as it was told to me, by someone who was there. Could be the "rumour" in rumours & news, but it was transmitted to me as a factual account.

If it is all BS , I am very happy for you, I considered the info given to me, & decided against it.

In my opinion it is only fair to present both sides of the story, yours appears to paint the rosy side, mine is a bit blacker, but was posted in good faith.

Well, anyone who chooses to go, will find out for themselves 1st hand anyhow wherein lies the truth :hmm:

Carefully consider Rwandair.

Two new CRJ's coming and two 737-500s back - i.e. gone. On the Boeing Rwandair are left with two 737-800's. How many crews on the Boeing are they going to need.

Regards
Exeng

Strange, one month ago Rishworth told me they needed more Boeing crews (& they interviewed at that stage) because they were getting rid of the CRJ's. . . .

What a lovely game !

B787s
 

And B787s to come next year