Virgin Nigeria Airways employment information (salary, rooster, bases etc)

[Shaft77]

Hi,

I have an assessment with Virgin Nigeria Airways in London coming up.
According to the information that I received from VNA the assessment consists of
a range of activities which includes:

- Technical examination
- Interview session
- Personality assessment.

I'm very curious on the technical examination:

- Is it written or verbal?
- What does it include? What type of questions have people experienced?
- Any tips?

My preparations consists of reading ACE's Technical Pilot Review, but what should I focus on? Aerodynamics, performance, power plants (especially turbo fan/jet) and meteorology are the areas that I'm currently focusing on.

Best Regards

[Shaft77]

Hi,

I'm interesting in finding out more about employment with Virgin Nigeria Airways (VNA). Both non-EXPAT and EXPAT - if those exists.

1) What is the salary for a First Officer and Captain?
2) Does VNA provide Loss of License?
3) What is the rooster (days on and days off)
4) What bases does VNA have?
5) Does VNA bond their pilots? What are the terms?
6) To what airplanes does VNA currently recruit?

And if you have any other useful information I'd appreciate it a lot.

Best Regards

[Beechslave]

I don't think anyone knows. I just got a private message from someone claiming to be a VN pilot telling me to avoid VN and Nigeria like the plague. I asked the guy for more info, he never replied, he was probably posting from a Nigerian prison.

The airline itself looks like it's ok, it's just everything else about the job is not, like being escorted with assault rifles to and from the hotel. I tried to ask some of the questions you have by using the vn.com email links but they never replied....

[Beechslave]

Do they provide any travel to and from the interview??

[Solid Rust Twotter]

What is the rooster

I'm not certain the company provides crew meals/entertainment, (depending on their proclivities) or what gender it is - could be a hen as well.

[Jen1laura]

I just attendant the first interview in London last week. VK does not provide transportation to the first interview. They will cover the airfare if you make it past the first interview.

It seems the salary for FO is about 50,000 US. But everything is negotiable. As far as days off they follow the regulations for England. They are hoping to put into place 2 weeks off every 3 months for expats, but they can not do that now because of staffing. They do not provide the airfare back home.

They do pay for your room and board, and meals on the plane.

[flyincanuck]

3 months on and 2 weeks off? I've got to be missing something here.

[Golf_Seirra]

Hi Omobola,

Please let me know if you are still working for Virgin and that any queries regarding the positions / contracts, must be addressed to you. If not, please let me have the contact details of the appropriate person.
My main query, along with many others, is confirmation of the tax rate for my offer. Please see attached our tax and net pay verifier that shows what your tax is and net pay.
Is there any chance of getting a sample payslip of a current employee, as previously requested. I believe the attached addresses this question.

I would also like to know if I can get a staff ticket, JHB-LAGOS-JHB so I may come and have a look at the accommodation and possibly source alternate accommodation for my family. I would like to do that asap.Staff ticket is only eligible to confirmed staff.
Another rather important piece of information is the current 737 flight schedule. Are some of the expat guys managing to get home after say six weeks for a week or two ? In other words, what is the guaranteed leave period / cycle.Our leave days are 20 days for the whole year. We do not do six weeks on, one week off. Each employee has to make leave plan with their line manager on how to take time off to go and visit their family.
Are there any JHB-Lagos-JHB route positions available which are JHB based by any chance....Not at the moment

Previous answers form Lauren....

The provisional offer sent to me will be changed to reflect the 737 offer or do I wait for the final offer with the appropriate changes. This will be amended and sent out by Judith in due course.
The contract only needs to be signed within the specified period once the original has been received. i.e. Must I request an extension to the period as stated in the provisional contract. The contract does need to be signed and returned in a specified time on receipt of your contract, can you confirm why you need an extension?
I cannot sign the contract until the specifics of the salary and taxation have been confirmed as per my previous requests. I shall ask Judith to respond to as soon as possible on this
I need to afford my current employer 30 days notice and would hate to miss your next training dates because I cannot effect my notice period. We appreciate that your will need to give notice and training dates will be given with this taken into affect
I cannot sign the contract until such time as training and start dates are forwarded / advised. We would not expect you to sign any contract that has no official start date so once this has been arranged we shall be incontact with you.
Is there any allowance for the training bond to be reflected in a South African Rand equivalent value. I.e. the GBP 20,000 amounts to ZAR 320,000. Comparative bonds in S.A. amount to ZAR 170,000 for the more expensive options / operators. I shall ask Judith to respond to this as soon as possible.I am certainly highly motivated and enthusiastic about the offer and as stated before, have sold the concept and move to my wife. I however need to give her practical feedback and make sure that she and the family will be happy in their new home. I certainly plan to be part of the team for the medium term but need to be pragmatic about the issues of moving to Lagos.

In short, I am very concerned about the lack of information and the time period of responses. Is there anything I should be concerned about ? Please let me know if I am following the correct channels or if these issues need to be raised with someone else. I suppose most of these issues fall into timing / time frame, which at this stage, I am unaware of. With regards to contract queries as explained at the interview this is dealt with by the Human Resources Team in Lagos however I am more than happy to help out where I can. Please bare with us with regards to official start dates as this is currently being reviewed by our Flight Operations Department.
Many thanks for your time and understanding in this matter,


:ugh:

[Golf_Seirra]

Interview Process – Virgin Nigeria

The main people dealing with the interviews are ;


Lauren Kerr – Recruitment, Training & Re-currency, Virgin Atlantic & Virgin Nigeria.
Omobola Sanya – Local HR Virgin Nigeria.
Nicole Svatek – UK Human Factors specialist.
Capt Hakeem Oyawoye– VN Training captain.
Rule 1 – don’t be late and don’t overdress.
Rule 2 – Ace the technical Guide is not necessary – go over your comm notes for ATG.
Rule 3 - be yourself.

The interview starts with a presentation by Lauren about Virgin Nigeria and their current setup. It outlines the aircraft they have, the plans for the EMB 170/190 fleet and future routes to the U.S. The 767 are on their way out to be replaced with ? Make a few notes as there is no press / info pack. There is info on their website and additional info available if you google. No-one asks you who owns who, but its nice to know…..you also don’t have to impress anyone with engine model numbers and output performance….keep that for the pub.

Have a list of basic questions worked out in advance, it makes you look more prepared and you will not think of anything intelligent at the time to ask, so plan in advanvce. This includes, tax issues, pension, accommodation, life insurance etc. Some of these requests will be deferred to your interview, so keep them handy.

The psychometric test is done on their laptop. Just have to drive the mouse…It is based on 4 response patterns to various questions. About 80 questions that should take you 15 to 20min. The responses are ; strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree and strongly disagree. Typical questions are ; Do you get angry / impatient. Are you tidy / organized. Are you freindly. Do you get along with other people. Do people listen to you / are you a leader etc. Read the question….some questions are almost double negatives.

Beware of trying to read into questions. Some questions revolve around asking you if you are prepared to hurt someone by telling them the truth. Whether you are applying for P2 or P1, your responses should be the same, i.e. instinctive. They get clever by varying the same question and then end up asking you the exact question as per 40 questions earlier. This is designed to see if you are trying to read into an appropriate response instead of being a true reflection of your character.

You have to be a true psycho not to “pass”. Relax, be in your usual assured pilot mode.

There is no result shown to you regarding the psychometric test ( but I’m sure they have a laugh at some of the profiles over a beer ).

The technical is based on various basics relating to ATG. Most questions are around the principle of lift, TAS vs CAS, effect of temp, TODA, VHF range etc. Brush up on your PPL notes and ATG comm level. It is not tough.

There are really easy questions and really tough ones. I know I certainly did not get the tough ones right, so it’s a matter of getting the gift-horse ones right. There is no pass mark and you are not informed of your result.

There are about 60 questions and it should take you 20min. You have a max of one hour. I suggest you don’t take the full allotted time. Be decisive, whether you are right or wrong. You could even score brownie points by leaving the ones you definitely don’t know blank…then again, it’s multiple choice and you may get lucky.

For some locals, the psychometric test, technical and interview may be held on two separate days. For expats flying in, it will be done in 4 to 5 hours.

A tip for those having to pay full fare, as VN do not give you a discount, is be nice to the lady at the ticket office and ask her boss for a discount. They do give them out of SA. Keep it to yourself…..make sure the interview staff knows the mission you have been through to get to the interview.

The interview portion is the easiest…

The main panel is HR lady, human factors lady and training captain.

The main questions are ;

HR – why did you start flying, why VN, tell us about your past companies etc.
Human Factors – is this not going to be boring compared to your previous flying, tell us about where you have flown, explain the ITCZ ( she might be blond but treat her with respect ), how would you brief a new P2 on local radio procedures and associated problems, explain an ILS to a layman, how would you deal with flying in local met conditions etc.
Training Capt – Metar / TAF brief & plate brief. Do the entire plate brief as you would in the cockpit ( including the date and rev number ). Include the lighting available and if you don’t know something….say you don’t ( RELS – runway edge lightning system ). No guessing. Like any captain, he wants to see you are open to learning something new and not a wise arse.

Make sure you ask them some pertinent questions about working conditions, accommodation, days off or even command upgrade periods. It’s really about been relaxed. Enjoy….the more they talk, the less you have too.

I will post approximate salary packages, but these are given to you on a hand written note and appropriate to you. I am not saying locals and expats get different packages, but they do not want to discuss salary items in the interview.

There is a basic, block hour rate, day-off rate and away S&T rates. I am trying to get clarity around tax, pension, medical deductions, so hang ten.

Guide take-home pay is ;

P3 - $4000
FO - $4500
SFO - $5500

The bond is 3 years and GBP 20,000. A bit rough for some, and just right for others. That’s a whole thread on it’s own. Flying is capped at 900 hrs / year. Be warned….this is not a ticket in VA.

Next round is then off to simm check ride in the UK at VN expense. I have had feedback that the simm check is not to see if you know how to fly and land the 737-300, but if you know the basics and how you cope with the new environment and stress. Treat it like an OPC check…..you are there to learn something new and show you have the right personality. Not that you know every button and can teach the simm instructor something.

After that it’s a formal offer from VN, then off for 7 week training course in the UK and finally, line training in Lagos. The chaps who interviewed in Nov started their training mid feb…..

Think sponge, dry sponge….

Accommodation is for bachelors at this stage only. I have not seen the units, but they are near the new VN offices. You share an apartment with one other. Own kitchen and lounge in complex with others. If you need a spot for the family, you can get something for around $500-1000 ( according to the training captain ). Be careful. Landlords require two years rent upfront which VN will help you with in the form of a loan.

I have not found out how many expats stay in Lagos and commute home. There are free flights, but they have not confirmed how many. Considering you only have 20 days leave, you will have some roster juggling to get home to mom.

[HVYMETLDRIVERWANNABE]

Sounds good, better than I've heard about many companies in Africa. I spent some time on their website and saw their hiring FOs at 350 with Commercial Multi and no type... is this till true? or is that just leftover from last year when all these guys were desperate.

Personally, I'm at 1400TT with 280 in the PC-12 and about 45 Multi... I'm wondering if I have a shot...