B737
 

Goose thank you for this valuable info. If you have any bank of questions that they ask in the interview besides what you listed I would appreciate that greatly


I have been at ET on the B737 for about 8 month now and can give you some feedback, hope it is of some use.

Keep in mind Im an Ex FR Driver !

Interview

The interview process takes 2 days, day one is the medical, nothing special here, besides a blood test for AIDS and other tropical diseases.
Day 2 is the simulator and the interview.
Simulator is a mini LPC, hand flown SID with flight directors. Followed by steep turns and stalls.
Then a procedural ILS with landing, also with FD.
V1 cut with an ILS approach and go around, all with FD, he ended the session half way through the GA.
The interview was OK, asked lost of ATPL stuff, what is balanced field length, how is it calculated, what is1st, 2nd and 3rd segment climb. How do you do a take off calculation without OPT or performance tables. The answers is use the FPPM (Flight planning and performance manual), never heard of it, but its a Boeing manual with all the relevant graphs etc.

They provide business class tickets, accommodation, all meals and transport. The hotel is OK, kind of like a Hilton that is in need of an upgrade. Same hotel is provided free of charge during the training, but only breakfast, no lunch and dinner.

Training

Ground School:
Before you start the training they send you a link for the CBT, this is pretty much all the theory for a type rating plus ETOPS, RVSM etc.They want you to finish it before your arrival to ADD. Needless to say I did not do it, as I was goofing off at home and did not fancy doing a CBT when I could be drinking beer in front of a BBQ or goofing off at the beach.
Upon arrival in ADD they asked why I had not done it and I said I had no time, they were not too bothered. I did the CBT at the hotel, took about 4 days solid.
After this you get your uniform and all your ID’s then you do 2 observation flights (sit in jump seat and observe operation) First day was an ETOPS flight to Libreville and next day a 4 sector day, Mombassa, Kilimanjaro, Mombassa and back to Addis.

Sim:
This is followed by the SIM, 2 days fixed base and 5 days FFS followed by check. The sim is not too bad, the sessions are only 2 hours long and it is mostly to teach you about the emergency turns and depressurisation escape routes around the ADD area, lots of high terrain. ADD is 7500ft.
The check was OK, no surprises, except he asked me to do a SE visual. Otherwise standard stuff, depressurisation with escape route, due terrain around ADD, NPA with circle to land. V1 cut, visual circuit to land.

Line Training:
I had 7 days of line training with 3 different instructors. The instructors are pretty nice, but 2 of them were quite anal on the verge of being annoying, no yelling, just each guy had his own idea of what the SOP was, which is all different from what the SOP manual says. I was warned of the above before the training began and advised just to nod and agree otherwise they could get otherwise, they have quite a high opinion of themselves.
The check was over 2 days to Maputo (Overnight in Maputo), so pretty relaxed, he passed me half way through the second day, and asked if he could do the approach and landing, to show me how its done !

On Line

They are very short of captains, especially on the B737 fleet, so Ive been flying my ass off since I was released. FTLs are not adhered to, so you must decide yourself if you are up to it and if you are comfortable busting the FTL limits. The limits are 1000 hours a year, 110 hours in 30 days and 32 hours in 7 days. Some guys are doing 140 hours in 20 days, as after 80 hours you get 87.50 USD per block hour extra. The advice that most give is fly until you are not happy with your fatigue levels, then turn you phone off.

The aircraft are all pretty new, they have 5 -700 and 15 -800, with another 10 MAX’s coming starting 2017. They are all very well equipped 27K engines, sun blinds, galley camera automatic WX radar and 180min ETOPS, and some extra stuff on the Vnav side.

The flying is varied and pretty relaxed, not much traffic, interesting destinations and ETOPS sectors over the Congo and the Indian ocean when we do New Delhi.
The crappy sectors are to the middle east, which are all done during the night, so pretty exhausting. Some destinations don't even have approach plates, in Somaliland etc.

The fuel policy is pretty relaxed, no need to give a reason of why, on the day, you took extra, must just remember why you did it, as they can ask you to give a reason if asked later. During the rainy season the company wants you to carry at least a half hour coming into ADD, even if nothing on the TAF. So I regularly land with 4.5-5 ton, with a diversion requirement of 3.5.

The engineering is generally good, all the -800 are pretty new with new ones arriving at about 1 a months. The -700 are leased and have some MEL items, but nothing major. You always have access to an engineer, if the destination does not have an ET engineer stationed, you take one with you, he does the fueling, tech log and opens MEL items and performs maintenance actions. All the aircraft carry a Boeing „fly away kit“ which includes a main wheel, nose wheel and a big box of assorted spares and tools, so the most common tech problems can be dealt with on the spot. But do check the tech log as they do sometimes get creative when they do not have time or spares to do the job !

The first officers are all very nice, you are the king, sitting in the left seat, so none of this crappy rich kid attitude that was sometimes present in FR. Some are very inexperienced and not the best handling pilots and lack SA at times. I was jolted awake after a night sector from Kuwait with a 2.2G landing thanks to 300 hour space cadet.

Addis is a pretty dismal place, lots of poverty but the people are very friendly and it is very safe, no problems walking around town, even after dark. Beer and food is cheap too, about 0.50 euro for a beer and 5 for a meal.

The cabin crew cant do enough for you, great crew food and all positioning, commuting and staff travel in business class. And all the water and coffee you can drink !

Overall Im glad I have made the move, after leaving FR you come to realise just what a bunch of greedy gits FR management really are.

The roster is 10 days off 20 days on, plus 14 days annual leave.
The pay is 7000 USD basic (just had a 500 USD pay increase as of Jan 1st), 1200 per diems and 1250 housing allowance. 4200 USD every 6 month and 7000 USD after 3 years for contract completion. Plus 87.50 USD for overtime, as mentioned above. All amounts are NET (ie after tax).
You are paid the basic pay plus 60USD per diem during training. But the basic is paid in arrears over 6 months once training is finished, a bit of a pain, don't really know why they do this.

I live in a large house with 7 other expat pilots, good company. We pay approx 500 USD each for rent, 2 cleaners and a full time guard and driver and a permanently stocked beer fridge. So I take home about 700 USD every month in cash of unspent housing allowance.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.



PS
JTrain
Had a few beers with an expat Q400 skipper who was going to work in Malawi for ET. They own 50% of Air Malawi.[/QUOTE]

Cause where you are they are all 300Hr Chuck Yeagers!!
http://www.achievement.org/achievers...e/yea0-008.jpg

B737 Assessment
 

Hi guys

I have an assessment for B737 Captain on the 23rd of April 2016. Can anyone give me an idea of the sim assessment whats it like as well as the airports used?

Are they still very short of B737 Captains?? At what point d they ask you to pay for the training?

Normally before the training starts, but remember it s a bond. They will give your money back in max 3 years, depending on the time reported in your contract.
the payment can be advanced, or deducted from your pay check of half/ half. Usually you can find an agreement for that

Trim thanks for the great info. How do you mean half/half deduction for the bond payment? SEEDA how did the interview go?

I mean that you pay cash half soon and half in monthly deductions from pay check.
But there are many different agreements so it depends what they offer to you

Hey Beanhead, are you still there? I will have a fresh 737NG PC next month and was thinking of applying. At least I should go interview and see for myself. What contractor did you use because Silver wings is still only paying 7000 as opposed to 7500$. Going through ET directly might be the best. Thanks for anymore info.

[QUOTE=Silver wings is still only paying 7000 as opposed to 7500$. [/QUOTE]
I don t think ETH is paying 7500 usd for 737. It used to be 6500 till january then they increased by 500.
Now is 7000 + 1200 + 1250 (housing allowance) + overtime

My bad
 

I re-read that and now understand. Thanks Tri.

Now, to be clear on the bonuses, it's 4200 every six months in addition to 7000+1200+1250? Then after 3 years you get an additional 7000$? All USD?

Are the medical benefits worldwide? Is travel in bizzo or downgradable to economy. Can you change your destination so say instead of EWR you go to JFK? Do they have Zed/ID90 travel on all carriers in addition, can you buy biz/first Zed?

Thanks again.

Does anyone know if they are firm on the 2500 hours jet PIC requirement?

The count you did on salary is correct (for 737/767 only) and it's all in USD.
Medical insurance abroad is valid only when you are on duty, it doesn t cover anything else.
Travel when you go on your days off is in businnes but downgradable if flight is full.
You need to send a mail a few days before the flight with the destination of your choice, you can change it every month if you want but it must be on Eth network.
Zed are available and if you fly Eth you have 2 biz class tkt a year for you and your family plus one every year of service plus of course econ ones.

Hi Trimaranus
Are you currently flying at ETH. ..may I PM you?

Thanks

yes, no problem

I was with them on the 75/76 for 3 1/2 years until retiring last August.


They treated me extremely well. Everything they promised was delivered.


My mother died. Immediate ticket home, open ended leave until affairs sorted, emails of condolence from three members of management.


They even gave me a farewell reception.


Thanks ET


(Those of you who recognize me - please keep my secret)

Great post duneprune. I found an African airline was much more accommodating and understanding than my previous US employer was.

Hi guys
Anyone here that can tell me about what accommodation is available after your 30 days in hotel, rental , who to maybe contact and possibly what areas are good to stay.

Thanks

Hello all

going for interview next week any little tips and infos will be more than welcome
if you apply for 777 f/o what sim do they give you for the assesment?

thanks

normally on 777 sim but i think is under maintenance now so you will probably do it on 737 (or may be 767 or 787)
It s basically stick and rudder and of course you are not supposed to know the aircraft if it's not yours.

Hi davidaz68

thanks a lot for the infos, do you know if they ask a lot of triple heaven system questions or just atpl stuff? and regarding the basic salary during training, what are the actual status, do you get paid or you get paid later on (after training complete or line check I guess). How long it takes to complete the training? Do you know if they contact your last employer or just your references?

thanks a lot

One Mile