Turkish Airlines - THY Recruitment (Merged)

[furbpilot]

The silence says it all.

[twentyyearstoolate]

Time to leave. This place has too many negatives now.

[furbpilot]

Time to leave. This place has too many negatives now.

Seen the recent events it has become progressively difficult to find anything positive beside salary paid on time...at least so far. I heard a financial disaster is at the horizon...

[Capt143]

Ataturk Terrorist attack was really awful. Nobody knows what's waiting for tomorrow.

[hammock]

Hi,

Any update on the EASA license requirement for all the TK pilots?

TQ

[furbpilot]

It will be a natural event..in amy case buy good life insurance. You might fly to Baghdad and paradoxically explode on the way back to the car park in Istanbul...

[captplaystation]

Define the meaning of "desperate" . . . . . . . .
**Turkish Airlines Newly Increased Salary - Age Limit Now Raised – B737 EFIS ACCEPTED**

[de facto]

It will be a natural event..in amy case buy good life insurance. You might fly to Baghdad and paradoxically explode on the
Same as you could have exploded in bruxelles.....and fly to Cairo and explode on the way back.

[APU_inop]

What are the new T&Cs? does anyone have an update?

[STEXUP]

Till they offer accettabile rosters with real commuting option for NB they will keep scraping the bottom of the barrel...already scooping wood probably. This last events will not help..so it's quite time for it.

[hammock]

@captplaystation,

Can u tell more on the "newly salary increased"?

[STEXUP]

No increase.. just inflation well not even that .Aiming at Africa but even there you find better T&C...commuting and block off days..and paid in USD. I think its really time they come to the realities of pilot recruiting. Heard pilots leaving in droves..10 at the times..they costed money to train..some got even new types.Being incredibly arrogant amd stubborn does not help...

[furbpilot]

[QUOTE=de facto;9432450]Same as you could have exploded in bruxelles.....and fly to Cairo and explode on the way back.[/QUOTE

Seen the geopolitical situation comparing Brussels to Istanbul makes no sense. Yes there was an attack to BRU airport but you cannot put on the same level the two events. Any risk assessment expert would tell you that living in Turkey and flying with THY at the moment increases the statistical possibility of being involved in certain events seen the geopolitical situation and somehow also the network. Should have been any non Muslim expat among the crew in the Bamako hotel he probably would have been killed for example. I understand that in Turkey this profession is still perceived as a business for though fearless men (and we can see the result) but beside those willing to take chances cause they have no other options the most of the pilots coming from the modern world agrees that is at least 40 years that this " style" has been dismissed as unhealthy. Lowering the requirement will not help acknoweledging the situation and trying to accommodate the needs of expat pilots would. By the way...Baghdad airport has been just hit by missiles...

[hammock]

Hi,
Any expat that currently working in THY?
Do allow me to pm personally? As I need more info on current condition.
TQ

[jetjockey696]

Seems a nice country to work in..... Coup central
http://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-36811357
Turkish President Erdogan appears in Istanbul to denounce army coup attempt - BBC News (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36809083)

[Alloy]

Violent coups or attempted coups in 1960, 1971, 1980, 1997 and now 2016 as I understand it, - if ever you wanted another reason not to think twice about applying unless totally desperate in my mind!

As for how this latest incident and the airport bombing will affect transit passenger bookings, well I suspect they will head south to the ME3, although personally I would prefer to pay the extra and fly direct and avoid the lot if at all possible.

[South Prince]

There are pictures showing ataturk airport ramps invaded by president supporters 12 hours ago, now flights are resuming. How in this world security can be granted in such a short time?

[STEXUP]

Still shooting in SAW and Konia. All US flight suspended till 31/8. Incirlik Nato base USAF departure point for Syria missions electricity has been cut. This is getting nasty. Just wonder where is the imbecil that few months ago made that video...safe Istanbul ??? Time to get the **** out.

[highfive]

Plenty of jobs out there , for now, so no real reason to stay in THY. But i guess many will , for whatever reason.
You reap what you sow ...

[STEXUP]

Turkey suspends European convention on human rights. I would like to propose a petition to strip Turkish Airline of the best "European" airline. What a joke of a country..French intelligence says 100 jihadist cross from Turkey into Syria every week...European my arse!!

[psychomantic]

Turkey suspends European convention on human rights. I would like to propose a petition to strip Turkish Airline of the best "European" airline. What a joke of a country..French intelligence says 100 jihadist cross from Turkey into Syria every week...European my arse!!

All the time so negative about THY, and still working for them?

[STEXUP]

All the time so negative about THY, and still working for them?

After hundred of people died in airport attack and a coup ( you know...a golpe for **** sake) tens os thousand jailed saked in the aftermath declaration of emergency state and above mentioned suspension in human rights I dare you to find anyone positive my psycho friend...if not idiots. Nigeria is a safer place.

[APU_inop]

Nigeria is a safer place.
Hahaha yeah right

[STEXUP]

Hahaha yeah right

I see a new generation of pumpers has been brought forward...the old one is probably in jail. Good luck with that....by the way..just resigned.

[de facto]

Was about time...best of luck in your new airline.

[STEXUP]

Was about time...best of luck in your new airline.

I think you need luck more than I do my friend..

[de facto]

My luck is not to be your friend:E

[STEXUP]

My luck is not to be your friend:E

And that is actually where lyles the problem. When you are not honest, when you try to fool people caring only about your own return, when you try to take advantage of people without accepting criticism or any input cause you think you know better .you don't get to have many friends in the long term. And you are left with the worst.opportunists. Not one of them...sorry.

[psychomantic]

And that is actually where lyles the problem. When you are not honest, when you try to fool people caring only about your own return, when you try to take advantage of people without accepting criticism or any input cause you think you know better .you don't get to have many friends in the long term. And you are left with the worst.opportunists. Not one of them...sorry.

You should be a politician in stead of a pilot, lol. It sounds you know a lot, but I'm laughing

I'm happy that you left THY. I hope others like you should follow. Bye bye

[APU_inop]

I heard he's off to Nigeria due to the security issues in Turkey.

[STEXUP]

Europe...when you'll never get evidently. Don't worry many are on the go.Cheerio

[Capt143]

Gentlemen, maybe he resigne for Nigeria but be sure he will be here with another username and again starts........ Hahahahaha

[ExDubai]

Gentlemen, maybe he resigne for Nigeria but be sure he will be here with another username and again starts........ Hahahahaha
Sounds like one of these 419 scams ;)

[STEXUP]

419 scams just out of pure curiosity..what are you talking about?

[STEXUP]

Jasta you are a local cadet I understand. I pretty well know that within the operating part of the company there are no jihadist...the big question mark is until when? I just don't want to know the answer.THY is promoting a European image that was already quite questionable and now it has absolutely no ground. I hope all the best for Turkey and Turkish airlines but sorry if I'm not so optimistic that is it.

[furbpilot]

Jasta when you and the others here will stop attacking people just for expressing a point of view that differs from your than may be Turkey will have a future as a real democracy. What is happening in Turkey may be normal for Turks but is not for most expatriate But we take note of the fact you and your friends are happy to see us gone.

[thatwasclose]

Hi guys,
Could someone tell me which hotel the 777 expat crew stay in while at IST and if they have to check out before each flight or if they keep it for the month . Thanks

[Payscale]

Please dont share this information. For security reasons for the expat flight crew.

[de facto]

You check out and its a very nice hotel,no worries there.
Which airlines give you a hotel room nowadays without having to check out between flights?:}

[Kapitanleutnant]

"very nice hotel".....???? Hmmm......

[de facto]

Tripadviser gives it a "very good" 8.5...i guess i wasnt far off the mark:p

[STEXUP]

By the way which other airline hiring expat gives benefits by fleet and rank ( B777/A330 CPT only..others get ****.) ? Maybe I'm.mistaken but I think all other middle eastern airline provide free housing to everybody...ah ****e forgot...this is Europe :E

[STEXUP]

Tripdvisor is a scam...De Facto I see the propaganda department has put you t work. I do understand..when I went to the office to hand my resignations there was a line...

[de facto]

Stexup....im leaving as well,just not tomorrow..i just think that titanic in bakirkoy is a nice hotel..oups..
You left right?get a life now...enjoy Europe and I hope you ll be able to forget about your nightmare experience.:p

[Kapitanleutnant]

Location, location, location!!!!!

[de facto]

I prefer bakirkoy than taksim but hey thats just me:}

[STEXUP]

De Facto you are leaving as well? So you see we are friends at the end. I'm just a peons flying 105 hours a month mostly at night ..seen F16 roaming around..no hotel for me..but why mentioning it?

[de facto]

Nope not friends...
Hotel is not an issue(ok maybe for ex EK longhaul guys)...maybe a 3 day layover in Niamey or Douala would put things back into perspective...that would be an issue..

[Capt143]

Hi guys,
Could someone tell me which hotel the 777 expat crew stay in while at IST and if they have to check out before each flight or if they keep it for the month . Thanks

Titanic Port hotel in Bakirkoy. It is a good hotel, 10 min from airport and surrounding area is pretty nice.

[Capt143]

You have to check out before each flight. The hotel is very good and surrounded by two big malls (Capacity & coursel). Local and international cafe & restaurants can be found in couple of minutes by walk.

[Capt143]

New headings toward Nigeria or elsewhere, please do not forget to invite us for your goodbye party ;)
Goodluck

[psychomantic]

By the way which other airline hiring expat gives benefits by fleet and rank ( B777/A330 CPT only..others get ****.) ? Maybe I'm.mistaken but I think all other middle eastern airline provide free housing to everybody...ah ****e forgot...this is Europe :E

Do you know why they provide in the ME free housing or housing allowance? I guess you know that, otherwise no body goes there.

Just compare the rent between Istanbul and Doha/Dubai.

[captplaystation]

"Titanic Port hotel" . . . . . ironically suitable name, with all & sundry abandoning ship.

I met (in a hotel bar ) a "local" FO a couple of weeks back.

As I am flying a relevant type as Commander, he asked me why I didn't want to join THY.

I cited a roster that allowed one to go home once a month max wasn't up to much (it was a SH fleet ) the constant devaluation of real salary due to being paid in TL, and (and this was prior to the Coup, but post Ataturk attack ) the rather obvious security concerns.

His response was totally & utterly to bury his head in the sand & "assure" me that it was not like this at all, & that I shouldn't believe what I read (international media obviously being just as unreliable as pprune :hmm: )

I guess if his Bosses have their heads similarly "underground" they must be amazed that whatever they do to slacken the criteria for entry the world is still not flocking to their door.

I read an interesting article the other day concerning the slow time bomb that the damage to the tourist industry has ignited, I could imagine crewing all the new airframes they are planning to expand with is going to start to appear quite achievable (in comparison to filling their cabins ) in the near future.

[furbpilot]

Psychomanthic the all Turkish Airlines appeal to expat was based on the fact that Istanbul and Turkey seemed to be heading to EU accession, were providing a safe , free, unionized, democratic, rights respecting environment and a decent 4 season climate.
Most of this factors seem to be not the case anymore beside the climate. Multiple terrorist attacks, security concerns and the recent dramatic events and their consequences have brought Turkish Airlines on a completely different perspective to our eyes. Regardless in Dubai/Doha/Abu Dhabi you get the company housing or cash in lieu ( plus paid education for kids up to univerisity 43 days leave ,substantially higher salaries. interest free loans and a more expat friendly environment) and rents are not far off if you consider locations ( The Palm...or Gunesly) and sizes. Other airline offer real commuting options and I really think that THY should go this way ..if they still need expatriate pilots.
We all hope everything will go back to to normal and Turkey and THY will proceed in their democratic development and expansion.Nobody has anything with theTurkish people here even the more critical that I believe are only trying to elicit reactions or to obtain better conditions. I sure don't know what will happen ...but I can tell you everybody is very concerned.

[TBSC]

Other forums report that the layoff of 1300 THY staff had been announced. This number includes 250 crew (cockpit and cabin).

[furbpilot]

which forum?

[TBSC]

A.net .

[furbpilot]

can you elaborate more clearly?

[TBSC]

Turkish Aviation July 2016 - Airliners.net (http://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1336781)

[ExDubai]

Also they started a "clean sweep", Sultan Erdogan rules

[psychomantic]

Also they started a "clean sweep", Sultan Erdogan rules

Definitely clean sweep and we need that for sure.

[psychomantic]

Other forums report that the layoff of 1300 THY staff had been announced. This number includes 250 crew (cockpit and cabin).

Total of 211, 15 from cockpit/cabin

[furbpilot]

Furbpilot, dream on, everywhere else is glorious and well paid. Not.

I'm just happy if it is " normal".

[777pilot]

Hello gents
Please someone tell us if THY has stopped screening process and they have cancelled 25 a/c on the orders and also cancelled their deliveries due to recent circumstances.
If this is true please elaborate (which i'm personally not happy about it ).
Would you guide me where to find the most accurate and latest news about the company please???
Fly safe

[APU_inop]

After the latest happenings they are now having overcapacity

[psychomantic]

After the latest happenings they are now having overcapacity

Where is that written? Do you have a link with your info?

Still vacancies on their website

[bob777]

Where is that written? Do you have a link with your info?

Still vacancies on their website

A lot of apartments in Yesilkoy becoming vacant that is for sure.

[psychomantic]

A lot of apartments in Yesilkoy becoming vacant that is for sure.

So nowhere written, it's your feelings ;)

[furbpilot]

So nowhere written, it's your feelings ;)

Psychomantic you should be happy...many yabancies are on the way. As a matter of fact almost everyday someone posts on the foreign pilot mail group leaving apartments and selling furniture. There are jobs available with better conditions and in more calm areas of the world.

[psychomantic]

Psychomantic you should be happy...many yabancies are on the way. As a matter of fact almost everyday someone posts on the foreign pilot mail group leaving apartments and selling furniture. There are jobs available with better conditions and in more calm areas of the world.

I am not complaining. Of course there are better places. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. I'm staying where I am ;)

[bob777]

I am not complaining. Of course there are better places. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. I'm staying where I am ;)

I'm not..never seen so much brown my friend..few days to go. .Psycho I read you had some anxiety issues..wrong job..wrong company if I may...

[psychomantic]

I'm not..never seen so much brown my friend..few days to go. .Psycho I read you had some anxiety issues..wrong job..wrong company if I may...

Anxiety? Please refer ;)

Excellent job, happy with the company

[psychomantic]

Only a few of us write over here, hence psycho might be right and we are wrong. Bob, perhaps we are color blinded and we see brown where it is actually green. Certainly THY and Turkey appear in a different way before you get in.

Come on, it's a forum. You can/must write whatever you want and we can discuss.

Different personal matters, expectations, positions, life style, carreer history so different evaluation and opinions

[Arewerunning]

I can confirm that they stopped recruiting: I have seen an email from THY pilot recruitment sent to a friend the 26th July stating that everything is on hold for the comings weeks.

Regards

[flydive1]

I'm heading to China, direct on 330..2 weeks on..2 weeks off...double the salary and confirmed business tickets. Enjoy your 8 days off and 105 hours ...cheers.

Why you did not go there to start with, without taking a job with Turkish first?

I mean, with those T&C it would be a no brainer for any smart person.

Or even better, why not a job with your home airline? I hear they have good conditions and it would be home

[APU_inop]

I'm heading to China, direct on 330..2 weeks on..2 weeks off...double the salary and confirmed business tickets. Enjoy your 8 days off and 105 hours ...cheers.
Glad you're happy but when it comes to China... I wouldn't hit the big drums until I've seen what's ahead. From what I've heard I'd rather stay in Turkish...

[bob777]

Glad you're happy but when it comes to China... I wouldn't hit the big drums until I've seen what's ahead. From what I've heard I'd rather stay in Turkish...
Well depends where you end up. I will not be based in China..to start with.. I apologize with Psycho..I mixed up with Jasta mate...sorry. Flydive..I will not spend time arguing with you..just tell me..how much of your tongue is left..??

[flydive1]

. Flydive..I will not spend time arguing with you..just tell me..how much of your tongue is left..??

I'm not the one that went to work for Turkish. Pot...Kettle?

[psychomantic]

Psycho..are you from recruitment☺?

I sit on the right seat of the a330 ;)

[psychomantic]

Doesn't mean you're not from recruitment��

Yeah right 👌

[bob777]

You mixed me up with him? So what it is that you mean to tell me?


Treated anxiety



#1 (permalink)

Jasta11's AvatarJasta11 , 19th Sep 2015 14:48

Hi everyone, believe it or not, in 2015, this is my first forum experience so; sorry if I screwed up.

To get to the point, I'm a 25 year old guy who's going to apply for a fully sponsored cadet program in my national flag carrier. The thing is, I've been diagnosed and -TREATED- with anxiety disorder. I don't know what type but I've had exaggerated worries over possible negative consequences related to my health and natural disasters (I live quite close to a fault line and it's predicted that a major earthquake will hit my city in the following years.)

During the treatment process, I've had to take cipralex 10mg and gone through 3 screenings in 4 months. All went fine and I've been just fine for a year so far.

The thing is, my country's ministry of health keeps the medical records for 5 years. I'm wondering if my case would hinder me from getting my medical pass during the initial screening.

Thanks in advance have a nice day!


Man wasn't this you?.As said the job is not only ( if at all) fun. Loads of stress and constant fatigue especially in Turkish were the limits are the norm. If Turkey will ever get into EASA ( which I doubt) just know that medical will get tougher on the psychological aspect after the A320 smashed into the Alps..

[truckdriver737]

First time contributor on this platform.But I believe I have a moral duty to share my impressions. Which are mostly negative. Flying every month to the limit,virtually no free time, commuting impossible if not for three days a month (moving family to Turkey not an option if you care about their safety) insane rosters ( fly sleep eat..fly that' S the motto) with minimum rests, management morevl resembling a bunch of mobster and training ..( what training..no standard,often no English) The only advantage are the salary ( if you'll ever survive to spend the few bucks you'll save ) and the fact that it is paid on time. Add to this the big mess the country is in, many security critical destinations plus the many 6/7 hours to dark Africa in the middle of the night and you might understand why my time here is over..enough.Bye Bye.

[bob777]

Well, as you can see, I said it's treated. And I also got the go from an approved hospital and DLR psychologists whose expertises were in aviation pscyhology. I've been in a military boarding school and got my fair share of blank future and graduation cramps at that time and learnt how to deal with them. Now I bayonet charge at stress, I eat crunchy anxiety for breakfast cereals so going through a damn break up with my girlfriend or not getting a business ticket for my commute back home won't cause me to cuddle to my pillow and cry or slam a passanger jet into Alps unlike a spoilt little middle class European kid. So thank you for your consideration but I'm immune to fatigue and stress now. And just a little side note, this was somewhat hitting below the waist.

Sure Jasta..you are immune alright...you are in the right place.no doubt..Superman Airlines. We spoilt middle ( high) class kid can see the result of Turkish machoism by counting the wreks. At leas you know how ti write in English..and no low hit..you wrote it.

[bob777]

Jasta..your management knows perfectly there is a problem but the average Turkish pilots is too proud to accept critics and moreover to implement a much needed self criticism. I think it goes down to a culture that is still not really based on rationality but on emotions not really ideal in aviation. There are plenty of good professionals and I believe the situation has improved slightly but still a minority and way too many issues.

Here is your comparison

http://www.jacdec.de/airline-safety-ranking-2016/

This is my last post here..wish you luck!

[JammedStab]

Thanks for sharing a sort of data for my potential study but simply looking at wikipedia page of the publisher gave me a solid idea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JACDEC you might want to check out controversies section. I'd expect more of an authority report.


"The list which was possibly wrongly computed unfairly included Turkish Airlines as the list's 60th, and least safe airline, which is indeed a Star Alliance member. Starting year for the list was precisely chosen as 1973, some 36 years back, including a Turkish Airlines jet that had crashed in 1974 and a time when most of the airlines that are listed did not even exist, such as JetBlue Airways which was founded in 1999 and other regional companies with less flight frequency.

The listing of Turkish Airlines as the least safe airline is supported by Turkish Airlines DC-10 crash, which was due to manufacturing faults of the DC-10's cargo door locking system, that killed all 346 aboard. In the aftermath of this crash action was taken worldwide to fix the cargo doors fault of DC-10's, that were in service."

Well Jasta, how is the safety record in the last few years then. Any significant incidents to report? Stalling on final? Busting minimums in Khatmandu? Several serious incidents in the last year? "Expect more of an authority report" you say...when was the last accident report in Turkey made easily available. Never seen one yet.

Are we seeing an example of "too proud to accept critics and moreover to implement a much needed self criticism."

[JammedStab]

Most of my post was to point out that despite the controversy about the Jacdec method, their rating of TK is not unrealistic.

One thing you could do that would be very useful would be to try to find some accident reports. They are frequently posted on-line by many countries. Reading these can prevent a future accident. Can you help in any way.

[fliion]

https://www.businesstraveller.com/airlines/2016/08/29/turkish-airlines-make-substantial-capacity-cuts-winter/

Any rumblings on expat lay-offs due capacity cuts?

[twentyyearstoolate]

I doubt any expats will be laid off. Too many leaving of their own accord anyway.

[shettys_airbus]

is turkish hiring for NTR(non type rated captains)on the A-330 with A-320 experience....

[Kapitanleutnant]

THY is not currently hiring for at least a month from a pilot recruiter 2 weeks ago.

K

[furbpilot]

THY is not currently hiring for at least a month from a pilot recruiter 2 weeks ago.

K

The number of resignations is unknown but I just know that every single yabanci pilot I meet is leaving. Even on LH fleets all seats. A sad place to work and live it as become indeed...not that it had ever been a really happy one...

[furbpilot]

I think they will..

[psychomantic]

The number of resignations is unknown but I just know that every single yabanci pilot I meet is leaving. Even on LH fleets all seats. A sad place to work and live it as become indeed...not that it had ever been a really happy one...

And when are you leaving?

[chrispatrickGA]

Guys, if it is true that some yabanci pilots are leaving, some others are happy to stay.
Management can rely on them , and the airline is ready to come back to some positive results after having lived one of the worst first half year ever in turkish history.

Some flights frequencies will be decreased during the winter period in order to have a better rentability and increase again after april 2017.
All results are analysed and THY is waiting to be back in business...

[psychomantic]

Guys, if it is true that some yabanci pilots are leaving, some others are happy to stay.
Management can rely on them , and the airline is ready to come back to some positive results after having lived one of the worst first half year ever in turkish history.

Some flights frequencies will be decreased during the winter period in order to have a better rentability and increase again after april 2017.
All results are analysed and THY is waiting to be back in business...

Of course some yabanci pilots are leaving, but also locals, but that's normal. One goes another comes

I think the right decision to slow down.

[furbpilot]

Psycho...your attitude says it all.But worry not...

[psychomantic]

Psycho...your attitude says it all.But worry not...

You are funny. You should be replaced by pilots with positive energy and attitude. The same for the locals. This would be better for THY, crew and pax.

Just go to another airline. I think nobody forced you to work for THY. You were the one who chose for THY.

Or why did you take 737 typerating. If you had a320/a330/b777 you had better roster every month. Everyone knows that the 737 flights/destinations are a disaster. It won't change for the moment, maybe in the future they will share with the 320 fleet those destinations/flights

[Kapitanleutnant]

Turkish Airlines defies network cuts with new long-haul route plans (http://www.anna.aero/2016/09/07/turkish-airlines-defies-network-cuts-new-long-haul-route-plans-latin-america-asia-focus-growth/)


7 Sep 2016 // Airline Analysis // No Comments »

Turkish Airlines defies network cuts with new long-haul route plans; Latin America and Asia in focus for growth

[furbpilot]

Psycho...you seem to know...but as usual you don't. Positive energy pilots ? I still have to see one.. I mostly see dead tired ones but some are just opportunistically pretending and you should hear them in their private conversation. At least I try to be mildly coherent and ethical..a word whose meaning in Turkey seems not to have been yet understood. Beside your 737 reference not being applicable.....I did not know in THY you can choose your type..����..since when?

[psychomantic]

Psycho...you seem to know...but as usual you don't. Positive energy pilots ? I still have to see one.. I mostly see dead tired ones but some are just opportunistically pretending and you should hear them in their private conversation. At least I try to be mildly coherent and ethical..a word whose meaning in Turkey seems not to have been yet understood. Beside your 737 reference not being applicable.....I did not know in THY you can choose your type..����..since when?

So you see dead tired pilots like yourself, I guess? That's normal I think. The one who is complaining should go for another airline, simple.

Before applying, you should have a type other then the 737. Why didn't you have a type on the 320/330/777? You would be much happier.

[furbpilot]

Quite surprisingly for you I don't fly 737..but friends do..and they have no private life..and probably will have an overall shorter one.

[captplaystation]

If The Economist magazine is correct when it states


" The purge that Mr Erdogan has launched against the group and its sympathisers has swept up over 100,000 people. Last week 50,000 civil servants were dismissed by decree. Soldiers, journalists, academics, airline pilots and businessmen have all been targeted."


then I would guess Turkish Airlines inability to recruit foreigners may be about to get a whole lot more urgent. . . . . .

[furbpilot]

Nahhhh...its just an impression...

[EDDT]

more bad news for pilots at THY

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-07/turkish-air-postpones-dozens-of-airbus-boeing-jet-deliveries

[Kapitanleutnant]

Well... you can always go to Slave Ship Airlines... Oops, I meant Emirates Airline for a job at 100 hours a month across 10 time zones at a time, not just Europe/Africa with 2 or 3 hour time zone changes. But at least you'll get a day and a half off to recoup after your 14 hour flight only to do a Chennai all night turn next.

I haven't heard/read anything official that THY is downsizing so the fact they're not taking NEW deliveries might not bode so badly for pilots.

K

[fliion]

Well... you can always go to Slave Ship Airlines... Oops, I meant Emirates Airline for a job at 100 hours a month across 10 time zones at a time, not just Europe/Africa with 2 or 3 hour time zone changes. But at least you'll get a day and a half off to recoup after your 14 hour flight only to do a Chennai all night turn next.

I haven't heard/read anything official that THY is downsizing so the fact they're not taking NEW deliveries might not bode so badly for pilots.

K

Fact check

There are no longer MAA night TAs.

In addition all early am departures to BLR, COK, HYD, MLE, TRV are now layovers

All three DAC layovers.

Both NBO's layovers

SEZ layover length increased.

Not defending overall situ - but lets keep it objective.

[Kapitanleutnant]

Thanks Fliion...

I'm glad to hear this for you boys.... you certainly deserve the break!! But we can insert a few others in there...

Mumbai, Delhi, Karachi, Lahore.... to name a few. I'm sure you get my point!
Still mad rostering imo!


Kap

[nevhermyilmaz]

I'm really happy that some of the folks left THY, since I wouldn't like to be flown by kiddos who are only mature enough to discuss if Turkey is in Europe or not. Who cares? I know Turkey is a hard country to live and have an extremely diverse culture but guys; as long as we hold on to our paychecks we're all modern slaves. No matter who sugarcoats it but go to every forum in this site and everybody is complaining from their airline or region for various reasons. Because that's how it works; either go lead a revolution or found your own airline. I'm sorry, truth hurts.

[furbpilot]

But Turkey is Europe or not? :)

[JammedStab]

I visited Turkey this year on a layover. Had a very good time. Was lucky in my timing. People were friendly, lots to see. Only annoyance for me were the shopkeepers in the bazaar("No for the fourth time and I am not your good friend"). Oh well, I really like to be left alone while others love to negotiate.

Can't comment on working conditions, but, there are definitely some European countries that have reputations for arrogance as well.

[ExDubai]

Looks like, the Q3 results will be interesting
According to the jungle drums also a bunch of narrowbodies are stored....

[nevhermyilmaz]

@ 30N30W

More than 7. Party's been over since very long time in Turkey. But we are still in Europe. :))))))))

[bob777]

@ 30N30W

More than 7. Party's been over since very long time in Turkey. But we are still in Europe. :))))))))

No you are definitely not.

[JammedStab]

Any update on the situation for expats at THY?

[Kapitanleutnant]

We are all still gainfully employed with the recent vote....

[SurvivedJZR]

Avoid THY, if you can. Former colleague told me about, how many expats ran away.
Highly unstable conditions, anywhere:
- personal life - no matter what you do, you could be taken to prison for no reason
- smartphones are under surveillance, police can check you phone
- company withdrew salary increase, but costs continously increasing
- Turkish Lira dropped within a year by 1/3
- Silly company rules urge expats to be longer in IST than they need
- FO`s are even behind PUR in case of ID tickets
- due to increasing cargo flights, deadheading increasing a lot and most times CPT/FO ends up flying up to 12h in ECO
- A/Cs are on ground due to missing pilots, not due to economical situation
- most times no salary in case of sickness
- highly rasist airline, any department, anywhere: locals will get all benefits, expats doing the ****
Good luck for everybody beeing there and trying to escape

[gearlever]

I can confirm all of the above.
I'm writing from outside Turkey. It's dangerous to speak out the truth in my turkish environment as an expat. My wife and I will leave. They censored facebook, youtube and even wikipedia. You can't trust anyone in the meanwhile.

[Avenger]

More nonsense! in QR there has been a recent influx of applications from Turkish carrier pilots, THY and SXS, PGS for many reasons, but not because they "live in fear" or claim to be " censored" complete tripe. The main reasons they want QR is Money, Getting out of Military obligation by being out o Turkey for 4 years, Chance to fly wide body and also their licence is accepted. those in the pool are happy to remain in THY until their slot pops up, and some even cancelled their courses and decided to stay in Turkey.. mainly family issues. THY still employs many foreign pilots an they seem happy enough to stay in a country where the living costs are half of DOHA for instance. Of course, there will always be one or two or one pretending to be 2! nutters wanting to stir up gossip.. but this is forum after all:ugh:

[SurvivedJZR]

More nonsense!

I would say there is a huge gap between your saying and actual situation!!
Pls read the post below from this forum http://www.pprune.org/terms-endearment/561139-turkish-airlines-thy-working-conditions-worse-than-announced-22.html?highlight=THY+working+condition

My post
+ it is serious!
+ it gives you many details, even background info
+ I am actually flying there as expat
+ I am curious about any "source" and I evaluate them carefully, if I had not the same experienced in several times
+ I am outside of Turkey in order to write what I think (no censorship)

To start, I am non English and my language skills aren`t best.
I am a person for whom respect is a major item, and who accepts other person thinking is different.
If my words might compromise somebody, I appologize in advance because any negative meanings could arise from my language knowledge or cultural differences.

@Survived
I fully comply with your posts, since all items could be true as pilot actually flying in THY.
- "Avoid THY, if you can." - my advise is the same!
- "Former colleague told me about, how many expats ran away" - fully true, in my fleet (A330) I think it is around 50% or more
- "Highly unstable conditions, anywhere" - I feel the same.
- "Good luck for everybody beeing there and trying to escape" - Thank you, I am using this luck daily ...


@Skipping
It seams, you had joined a while ago, when there had been better times. I believe (unable to confirm) that you were B777, the nicest fleet.
I try to include the original post of Survived into your numbering sequence to make understanding easier for others

1) Survied: "personal life - no matter what you do, you could be taken to prison for no reason"
Skipping: "Theoretically yes, anybody can be taken to prison in Turkey. OK, this is crazy, but in reality only politically active people are affected.
me: The reality IS, THAT ANYBODY HAVING POWER (police man, security personnel, military, secret service) CAN TAKE YOU WHEREEVER YOU ARE WHATEVER YOU DO.
They might interprete something is politcal and you are gone, no human rights any more. Writing this would be enough that your family does not hear anymore from you.
If they think, what you write, what you say in public, what you say next to your mobile (just battery in, not on), or by calling, if they judge it is political, than they can take you. end of story.
There is no difference at all to Hitler`s SS. Even you can see much more similarities from this actual State to former Germany.

2) Survived: "smartphones are under surveillance, police can check you phone"
Skippping: "Smartphones are not under surveillance, unless see #1"
me: "They" simply monitor your mobile, to find out, if you are political or not. Who knows, why "they" decide you are politcal. But "they" monitor...
Plus, what I find even more embarassing. Policeman DID take the smartphone, when you are arriving by public street at the gate to the airport and they checked several apps!!!!!

3)Survived: "company withdrew salary increase, but costs continously increasing"
Skippping: "Costs are actually decreasing - the hotels got cheaper. No salary increase of 1% - that's true - however it will be done retroactively if the company starts making profit again"
me: MY costs: When I go to the supermarket, I pay approx 20% more than last year, same time TL dropped by 33%, and my salary increase was 4%.
I paid in Titanic hotel for an additional single room approx. 140TL, today it is 175TL. Mobile costs raised from 45TL to 70TL doing the same as before, etc. etc. etc.
I am only 95% sure, but the salary rise for 1st JAN 2017 was 4% plus inflation, and another 3% plus inflation for 1st Jul 2017.
Predicted Inflation for 2017 is 10,1% (just checked)
Both increases are gone, we are talking about 27% for 2017!!
These 27% given back to us, only maybe, if you trust them AND THY make ?100 million USD profit (cannot remember the amount)...
And if you are NOT a Union member, THY takes 2% out of your salary! There is NO Contract for this, but they do.
When I claimed for the 2% they just said, it was agreed with the new Union Contract, but not saying which paragraph or whatever,
and what makes me angry most, they just cut the salary without telling you. This leads to a very untrustful situation, so you check
always the salary, but there are too many unknowns, so you end up in a big "?".
Also they cut the per-diems. Before the new Union-Contract it was protated payment for the day you left IST and you came back to IST. They days in between they paid full.
Now it is, that they pay only the days, when you have complete 24h. But do not ask me, what time counts. If it is UTC, or Local IST, or Local Destination time, I do not know,
and you do not get, as non Turkish speaker, the rules where it says what.
Last point is a typical item for THY... (later see rasist behaviour)

4) Survived: "Turkish Lira dropped within a year by 1/3"
Skippping: "Sadly true."
me: correct, regarding last 6 months. Here is the timeline: today 1€=4TL, 2016 1€=3TL, 2013 1€=2.2TL
Depending on the future behaviour of "him" TL might fall BELOW 1€=5TL !!!

5) Survived: "Silly company rules urge expats to be longer in IST than they need"
Skippping:"No company rules against expats: it may seem so, but in reality there seems to be some confrontation between the flight ops and crew planning so all the pilots are affected, not only expats"
me: both correct: The rules simply affects expats mosts, because they are not home in IST area.
The rules says, you have to be in IST area 12hours before your duty, which is 13.5hrs(wide-body) or 13hrs(narrow-body).
That means, come 2days earlier if you have a flight starting just after midnight, which most long-haul flights do.
The first plane landing IST from Europe in most (not all) cases lands just before noon.
There is not enough time to be on duty for the flight departing after midnight.

6) Survived: "FO`s are even behind PUR in case of ID tickets"
Skippping: "FO's and PUR are same level of priority, so if the PUR is more senior, then yes, she goes first"
me: both correct. And there was an email from fleetmanagment, that FO should take business seat on deadhead flights, if space available,
but since fleetmanagement has no power in THY, nobody resepects this email, with the result, that there could be an empty business class,
but the FO would fly the 13h from KIX to IST in the ECO.
Maybe you would say, the FO could ask CPT or PUR for the "internal" upgrade. Forget it!!!
If the CPT is TUR, then he says NO. If the CPT is expat, depending on his experience and attitude, he might say YES, but the PUR says NO
and threats the CPT to write a report (which he/she would do anyhow, because the CPT broke a rule)
Of course the CPT is the final authority, but if he does, he goes for a coffee in fleetmanagment....
I did it once, against the will of the PUR, she reported me, I had the coffee and now I have a warning in my file.

7) Survived: "- due to increasing cargo flights, deadheading increasing a lot and most times CPT/FO ends up flying up to 12h in ECO"
Skippping: "Can't say anything"
me: I can say a lot, and this is true and a very bad item:
Roughly 10% of A330 are Cargo Aircrafts. The number will increase, also B777 will get CARGO.
According to THY Cargo, a Cargo A/C makes 4times the money of a PAX A/C.
More and more flights we go somewhere deadhead (ecerywhere around the world) and takeover the CARGO A/C to bring it to IST or vice versa.
Many times the Business Class is full, nowadays worse than before, since THY started to sell Business Class seats last minutes at the counter
to a reasonable price compared to booking price.
This results, that all Captains and FO end up in ECO seats. Since the Crewplanning is responsible for the reservation of the seat, they do last minute,
and you get a ****ty seat somewhere in the middle of the ECO class. You will fly the full time there, going inside in uniform.
Since many PAX use THY with IST as hub, they continue and your neighbours or pax behind/infront are 24+ hours travelling resulting in a lack of patience.
With all the different negative behaviour you will arrive highly exhausted at your destination.
In old flightdutytime rules, deadhead did not count as flightdutytime, so you could go somewhere you travel roughly 1h to the hotel
and you have not even 8hrs to sleep. (I did IST-BKK = 10+1.5h in the A/C, 1h to hotel 7.5hrs in the room, less than 6hrs sleep, 1h to the airport,
2hrs (!!) until ready for Cargoflight, then time to IST was 16hrs due to intermediate landing, which we always have.

8) Survived:"A/Cs are on ground due to missing pilots, not due to economical situation"
Skippping: "There's no pilot shortage (yet). Definitely no flights cancelations due to pilot shortage. If that was the case I'm sure the conditions would have been improved already and the crew planning issue were also already solved. Too many pilots now - so supply vs demand is at work."
me: Oh YES, there is a shortage and A/C are on GND due to missing pilots and I believe missing 330 pilots.
I cannot proof this, but there are 3 major facts:
1. THY has started recruiting 330-FOs a few days ago, check yourself!
2. Many P3 (Senior-FO) and P4 (Type qualifed FO being able to fly with new CPTs) have resigned or are going to resign soon, applying outside of Turkey - this is what these colleagues told me.
3. Ask any TUR CPT or FO to have the newspaper of 2nd MAY - Economical Chapter - I am sure, that most time they can help you.
This is my understanding of a translation by a TUR Cpt:
Many A/C are on ground since THY has a massive lack of pilots. More than 100 TUR pilots had resigned.
The remaining expat pilots could be happy to work in THY, since they do not meet the high standards of their home country.
I forgot the name of the newspaper, also it did not mention the numbers of expats, who left THY.

9) Survived: "most times no salary in case of sickness"
Skippping: no reply
me: Easy example: You have a cold, you will pay the doctor at home, the medicine, have in most time a deduction of 100% of days missing on your salary plus the flightpay.
There is a rule, that for sickness of 1 or 2 days, your are fully paid. This is partially correct, but to make everybody aware of the THY procedures, and the UNION agreed (!!!!!) changes, get the following in your mind:
Roster: day1:IST-JNB, day2:rest, day3:JNB-CPT-JNB, day4: rest, day5: JNB-MPM-JNB, day6/7: JNB-IST
but you fly: day1:Sick, day2:IST-ESB-IST, day3:IST-AYT-IST-BJV-IST, day4:IST-LHR-IST, day5:IST-MAD-IST, day6:IST-KBP-IST, day7:IST-TXL-IST
deduction of base salary: NIL
deduction of flight pay (which is 40% of all salary) days2-7 equals approx. 19h of 72h paid = deduction more than 1/4!!!
Result: You get the initial flights of these 6days deducted, even that you have WORKED!!! This is THY and this is the UNION of THY!!!
and remember: Everytime you get a deduction it will be more, than what you would earn, when you fly!!!
Also, Health insurance is NOT paying at your home, except in case of live-threating events. All other costs are on you.

10) Survived: "highly rasist airline, any department, anywhere: locals will get all benefits, expats doing the"
Skippping: "The last point is completely incorrect. There's absolutely no discrimination against expats in my experience.
The case being there are a lot of cultural differences that create a lot of misunderstandings, so some of us may take it personally and feel like they are being
mistreated / discriminated, where in reality its just a matter of perception."
me: Well, I have seen many different cultures, almost every culture is different than my own. I am aware of this.
What is rasist? My understanding of rasist is:
- Locals get the good flights (summertime to US, wintertime to SouthAfrica) , Expats gets the unnice destinations (US in wintertime, Mauritius in Rain Season)
I call this rasists, because the decision, which pilot is going where is based on being local or not
- 99% of TUR reply on emails to all by speaking TUR, but they are able to speak English, at least a few words could counteract rasism
- a fleetmagazine where 1/3 of the content is not translated into English, although the content is relevant for work and not aiming of any TUR relation
- staff in majority is unable to communicate in English, although they deal with expats day by day
- managment is pure TUR
- majority of old CPTs (even 1/3 of young CPTs) treat expats rough and unpleasant, even if they are able to communicate in English
- mostly if you are with 2 TUR CPT/FO in COC, they speak TUR in case you do not heavily insist to speak English. In case you are nice, they continue in TUR.
- many other benefits you get much more easily, or at all, if you are local
And all of this is THY!!!

Other:
Skippping: "When things pick up again and THY needs pilots for sure just raising the salary and giving more days off will do the trick to get a new bunch of willing expats."
me: If you check the new advertising for A330 FOs, there is no change at all.
But I remember, still they - I call it "stole" 27% of our salary.
Financial Situation is not as bad as they want us to believe.

@Miki380
Well, it seams you experienced nice years, as I did at the beginning. It is for sure not the same company as the old times ...
RE1:
- "TL was always going down" ... salary rises did not compansate that, and within the last year it dropped by 1/3 !!! And NO salary rise any more !!!
Question: Comparing to the rate at your beginning, how much is the salary loss with actual rate in %?
RE2 - advantages:
1) "you are close ( 2h ) from most European destinations" - 2h means only Eastern and partly Southern Europe
2) "salary is after tax nad not bad comparing to other european operators" - well comparing to those where FO pay for flying and a few more, YES!
Comparing NET and in EUR, the majority is not an advantage!
3) "they pay the pension insurance" - what is a pension insurance worth, if you do NOT get the payment, which is the case for 95% of expats.
With the new law (maybe 1.5 years old) you have to fulfill several items, one of them is to have pension payments into TURKISH pension for 7000 days,
which is just less than 20years...
4) "always upgrade to bussiness class without asking" - you speak only for a CPT, which I confirm is many times the case but never "always",
and sometimes you fight with stupid 18 year old groundstaff since they want to upgrade regular ECO pax, when ECO is overbooked, ignoring
the procedure, or other stupid items, which are ignoring this procedure.
5) "normally you get block OFF requested ( not always )" - once upon a time, I confirm this, but since 2 years, forget it - not only 330 fleet!
Remember : Expats are not able to use the "Crewish" and cannot request, only send an email to the contact-fleetmanagement-CPT of the fleet,
who then might forward this email to Crewplanning, with the result (which I can proof) that you get an outcome completey OPPOSIT to your request.
6) "...well organized company" - for sure not, we have been in 2 different companies - according to my experience !!!!
7) "good technical support" - not from my point of view: they clear the TechLog ignoring the leak of the HYD for FWD Gear, and ..., and ...


P.S.:
All my mentioned facts or words are my experience and best of my knowledge.
The reason why I did not leave yet is simply, that I am on a 2nd part time of 3 months.
There are several posts within my writing time of 8hrs on which I could not reply.
Being open minded for any kind of reply...

[Avenger]

Of course it's possible that a few people have had experiences they consider to be unsatisfactory, that holds true for any employment. What we have here is a couple of extreme views that don't support the experiences of the many.. given there hundreds ion ex-pats in THY, the thread seems dominated by just a couple, should one assume the silent majority are content or just realise the grass isn't any greener?

[plt radioman]

More nonsense! in QR there has been a recent influx of applications from Turkish carrier pilots, THY and SXS, PGS for many reasons, but not because they "live in fear" or claim to be " censored" complete tripe. The main reasons they want QR is Money, Getting out of Military obligation by being out o Turkey for 4 years, Chance to fly wide body and also their licence is accepted. those in the pool are happy to remain in THY until their slot pops up, and some even cancelled their courses and decided to stay in Turkey.. mainly family issues. THY still employs many foreign pilots an they seem happy enough to stay in a country where the living costs are half of DOHA for instance. Of course, there will always be one or two or one pretending to be 2! nutters wanting to stir up gossip.. but this is forum after all:ugh:

I'm Turkish. I left Turkey for UAE some years ago, mainly for quality of life and company standards. Today there is a witch hunt going on for anyone not in favour with the government, either being an Ataturk follower or an ex ally of Erdogan. Even back when i was there, it was very easy to notice the change,and that now has escalated and it effects you. At least it has affected me.

Having seen worse companies, i am very happy here in DXB T2. I try not to listen to complaints. As far as i know , many guys that went on to QR actually did seek a escape from what is going on back home. At least thats the message i received from them when they contacted me before coming into the region.

[gearlever]

This article as of today is about discrimination of female workers for political reasons at THY in VIE (Austria). The lady is from Slovakia and is one of the 17 employees out of a total of 22 Austrian THY workers who have been "exchanged" recently.

https://www.austrianwings.info/2017/05/vorwurf-turkish-airlines-diskriminierte-weibliche-mitarbeiter/

[Avenger]

https://business-humanrights.org/en/emirates-qatar-airways-accused-of-abusing-female-aviation-workers-labour-rights-0

[gearlever]

Austrianwings is commenting about safety of Turkish Aviation in generell (German only).

https://www.austrianwings.info/2017/05/flugsicherheit-die-tuerkei-hat-ein-grosses-problem/

[Tu.114]

Austrianwings is not the most respected aviation news outlet around. Not untypically for this site, the (unnamed) author of this article simplifies, uses cross-references to many of their previous articles and also to (unverifiable) posts on this site, merrily speculates away and generally seems to be mostly aimed at praising the high standards of Lufthansa.

[gearlever]

Austrianwings is not the most respected aviation news outlet around. Not untypically for this site, the (unnamed) author of this article simplifies, uses cross-references to many of their previous articles and also to (unverifiable) posts on this site, merrily speculates away and generally seems to be mostly aimed at praising the high standards of Lufthansa.

Don't know what an independent Austrian Website has to do with Lufty.
But I have full respect they didn't publish the autors name(s).
Translation from mentioned article:
Since our editors had already been exposed to threats and hostility in the course of their research, we decided to publish this article without the authors names, in order to protect all the colleagues involved and our informants.

[AviationFORLIFE]

Hello there. I am new to this forum!! I just would like to ask, I have seen the Turkish Airlines First Officer Experienced requirements and it said 1000 flight hours on any planes over 27 tonnes. Can anyone give me an example of any planes over this weight and would it be possible to be a flight instructor and then apply to the company?

[Python27]

Hello there. I am new to this forum!! I just would like to ask, I have seen the Turkish Airlines First Officer Experienced requirements and it said 1000 flight hours on any planes over 27 tonnes. Can anyone give me an example of any planes over this weight and would it be possible to be a flight instructor and then apply to the company?

It's a joke for sure...

[SMT Member]

Can anyone give me an example of any planes over this weight ...

It would require a serious bit of tool, to create a plane with a weight over 27 tons. If, however, you're talking about air- or even aeroplanes then, yes, I may be of help:

Anything built by Boeing
Anything built by Airbus
Anything currently built by Bombardier
Nothing built by Cessna
Nothing built by Piper
Nothing built by Beechcraft

Alternatively, there's a thing called 'Google' - you may want to give it a whirl.

[Ghost_Rider737]

An aircraft with 50 seats roughly equates to 27 Tons.

[4runner]

It would require a serious bit of tool, to create a plane with a weight over 27 tons. If, however, you're talking about air- or even aeroplanes then, yes, I may be of help:

Anything built by Boeing
Anything built by Airbus
Anything currently built by Bombardier
Nothing built by Cessna
Nothing built by Piper
Nothing built by Beechcraft

Alternatively, there's a thing called 'Google' - you may want to give it a whirl.

Dude....take it easy on him.

[APU_inop]

If the airplane has an MTOW of more than 59524.8108 lbs, that airplane will most likely qualify.

[dubaigong]

Will I still qualify , my Aircraft was 59524.8107 lbs ?

[Sucram]

Looks like they are offering wide body Capts 31000 lira, that equates to around £6200 a month, don’t think many expats will go for that

[dc10fr8k9]

Can anyone enlighten me on the B777 rosters and general quality of life for a B777 PIC at Turkish? I am looking to leave the Gulf region after 6 years here, the rosters these days are insane. I live in Europe (well, that's where I'd like to live) and wonder if it is commutable to central Europe working out of Istanbul.

Of course every airline has good and bad points and the good outweighs the bad here at the airline I am at presently with; great people, great airplanes and top maintenance, good pay, reasonable benefits, etc, but the rosters are insane and all that other things don't matter anymore when all you do is eat-sleep-fly. And repeat. "Factoring" the flight hours (considering only those at the controls and not those in the bunk! as if my body can tell the difference!) is a very creative way to "stretch the rubber" band in amazing ways, but 130 to 150 hours spent in the "aluminum tube" every month begins to take it's toll. I've heard Turkish does not "Factor" the flying hours and I'd be happy to work a sane schedule for less money if all else is reasonable.

Any info appreciated in PM. Thanks in advance.

[psychomantic]

Can anyone enlighten me on the B777 rosters and general quality of life for a B777 PIC at Turkish? I am looking to leave the Gulf region after 6 years here, the rosters these days are insane. I live in Europe (well, that's where I'd like to live) and wonder if it is commutable to central Europe working out of Istanbul.

Of course every airline has good and bad points and the good outweighs the bad here at the airline I am at presently with; great people, great airplanes and top maintenance, good pay, reasonable benefits, etc, but the rosters are insane and all that other things don't matter anymore when all you do is eat-sleep-fly. And repeat. "Factoring" the flight hours (considering only those at the controls and not those in the bunk! as if my body can tell the difference!) is a very creative way to "stretch the rubber" band in amazing ways, but 130 to 150 hours spent in the "aluminum tube" every month begins to take it's toll. I've heard Turkish does not "Factor" the flying hours and I'd be happy to work a sane schedule for less money if all else is reasonable.

Any info appreciated in PM. Thanks in advance.

I am a FO on the A330, but I can help you as far as I can with your questions.

* 777 has the best roster of Turkish
* commuting roster
* 9 consecutive block days off
* 70-80 hrs a month
* 2 confirmed tickets every month paid by company
* 2000 tl housing allowance or Hyatt hotel
* layovers most 24 hrs
* nice destinations

Good luck

[Donovan]

I am a FO on the A330, but I can help you as far as I can with your questions.

* 777 has the best roster of Turkish
* commuting roster
* 9 consecutive block days off
* 70-80 hrs a month
* 2 confirmed tickets every month paid by company
* 2000 tl housing allowance or Hyatt hotel
* layovers most 24 hrs
* nice destinations

Good luck

@psychomantic thanks for sharing the info, the housing allowance is given to FO as well? did they change their contract!?

[psychomantic]

@psychomantic thanks for sharing the info, the housing allowance is given to FO as well? did they change their contract!?

No housing allowance or hotel for FO. I don’t know if the 777 is good for a FO. Most of the time you are a golden mike ;)

[dc10fr8k9]

Thanks very much psychomantic! Fly safe, maybe see you in Istanbul! :)

[LW20]

How does "factoring" of the flight hours work?

Thanks

LW20

[allatp]

Hi.
How safe is Istanbul nowadays?, regarding being right next to Siria. Any terrorism threats?
Thanks.

AA

[ReducedThrust]

Hello

Can any one tell me how is the A330 FO job at Turkish Airlines?
How much is the salary in Dollars?
Layovers?
How many hours are first officers flying every month?
Working conditions at Turkish Airlines?
Also is it true that if you live in Turkey you get the nationality in 5 years?

Thanks and regards

[UdD]

Being an A330 F/O is not an easy job to do in THY. Especially about elder captains. I can handle it just because i am Turkish and i am very used to such kind of behaviors of elders in my country. But it'll not be so easy for an expat.
the salary is about 20k Turkish liras. equals to almost 5K $.
Layover periods and hotels are good except india and africa destinations.
its not stable, unfortunately, to talk about an average. average is 50-60 winter time, 70-90 summer time. ( but for this summer they are talking about +90 due to pilot shortage.)

Nobody cares about you, you are just an id number and slave. Don't talk don't complain just fly as much as your physiology let you.
Are you sure about having Turkish nationality?? which has nothing to do in almost %95 countries in world except Arabian peninsula!
as a conclusion, go to somewhere else.. ( which i will do also )
regards.

[ReducedThrust]

UdD;

God 5 K dollars is very less salary , this is the salary i am taking home in my home country which is a third world country . I am an expert when it comes to flying with oldies , no one does it better than me. How many layovers are in Europe of A330 ? The salary disappoints me but turkish nationality for me is better than my countries. You seem very sad.

[Avenger]

Why would you do layovers in Europe on the A330 most destinations are 4 hours or less?

[chrispatrickGA]

No layovers on A330 IN EUROPE;
The layovers are in USA, Asia or Africa.
I would not think about safety as an issue in Turkey nowadays, at least not more than any other countries; the main hitch in THY for expats is the fact that salaries are paid in TL which remains an extremely volatile currency.
2years ago you could get 1 euro with 3.30 tl and a A330 CAPTAIN was able to bring 10000 euros on a normal month, 120000 euros on a month with bonus .
today you need 4.90 tl to get one euro and salary increase did not compensate their local inflation. As a result, a large number of captains left the thy boat.
Nowadays, this company is made of a majority of thy pilots who can be extremely kind if you are honest with them. I do believe they can do better that they do nowadays in a lot of sectors but a significant progression occured over the last decade in the training department .
With their ambitious project ( new airport, 40 A350,etc) THY has to show the world they can attract more expats to cooperate and make the most of this airline.

[Winged Lion]

Hi.
How safe is Istanbul nowadays?, regarding being right next to Siria. Any terrorism threats?
Thanks.

AA

If you’re talking about İstanbul being right next to Syria I would like to state that you are very wrong. It’s at the far end opposite side of the country. And Turkey is big enough for me to say that the southeast of the country and the northwest are two different worlds.

Will you see a lot of refugees in Istanbul though? Hell yes. Just like in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy etcetera etcetera. It is a huge city that attracts all kind of people. Good and bad.

The locals complain more about the country’s politics than they do about something else. For them that’s the real danger.


For anyone considering moving to İstanbul: please understand that it can be tough to live/work there. Do not get me wrong it really is a beautiful and interesting place but living there is a whole other thing. Which makes it a love/hate story for a lot of people. Students, workers, daydreamers... Istanbul is actually a very big factor to consider as potential future employee of Turkish. (For many a huge negative factor).

In this city the flame can jump into the pan very quickly for expats and it can become very unpleasant. (Can you imagine the problems locals experience and just make that x2 for expats). Even though it is full with tourists and they are used to foreigners please understand that they can still be very intolerant to an outsider. Consider traffic rants, dealing with cab drivers, bureaucracy and all those things.

Something else to consider: To buy a car it is damn expensive. To own one and keep up with the gasoline is damn expensive. To use the public transportation is a problem. To deal with those cabdrivers: likewise.

I just wanted to share some things that can only be told and said by someone who actually lived there and knows the culture. As people will share mostly something about the company itself I wanted to pass on my knowledge about the city.

Mind you I am not trying to avoid someone from getting in. On the contrary, if you feel good about it go and try it for a couple of years. You will for sure have amazing moments and experiences in Istanbul and it is just a matter of having more positive sides than the negative. You just have to go with the flow and dynamics of İstanbul.

Cheers,
LW

[A320NST]

Dear Friends Turkey is overall a safe place as most of the EU Countries.
THY actually is not a friendly environment because of the Management and T&C.
The rate of 1EURO = 4.90TL make your salaries less then African Low Cost Airlines.
We established a new Union called HAVASEN in order to discuss with the management the issue about FTL and Salaries and as result they are trying right now to Fire 100 Commander from all fleets and some Cabin Chiefs in order to make terror to all crew Union members in clear violations of human rights.
A lot of flight are canceled because of pilot shortages in this last 6 month but is looking they don’t care.
Almost 600 pilot Turkish national have tried to leave the Company on last December 2017 but the DGCA stop their license. They cannot flight for nobody except for THY. On 2017 due to economic and security situation we lost almost 900 expat Pilots.
Operationally wise the situation in dramatic right now and the Company creates own FTL then can push the crew to fly up to 9 consecutive days and push the daily duty limits up to 15:30 hours with a lots of excuses.
In the last 5 months apply only 3 pilot where are coming 2 from Iran and 1 from Pakistan.
Those are fact!

[gtaflyer]

can anyone tell me which turkish fleet does europe layovers particularly going to Birmingham, london or Manchester?

[Biloute68]

Upon Joining in 2013:

- Money was quite good considerating the real commuting contract.(possible to go home in the 3 weeks on)
July 2013 Cpt LH Basic money was 22.000 TL divided by 2,56 was 8.500 € + Bonus every 3 months and 80 hrs (10 hrs above 70 hrs contract) gave an average of 10.500 € up to 11.000 € after taxes.
- Extra Appartment money was 2.000 TL (780$) or accommodation in great Titanic hotel payed by Thy .
- Flight time /Duty time was quite good. It allowed the Airline to make you fly up to 90 hours and at the same time have decent rest times to go home in between your 3 weeks on / 1 week off (actually 9 days off)
- Rest time were excluded from the Off days which meant that you could have sometimes more than 9 days !
- We had reserve day with require to call the day before at 5PM to know if there was a duty the next day . Great for expat flying to home in between duties as they could some times stay one more day at home! Sometimes 3 nights home in the On period!!
- 4 pilots for duties like Kabul (go and back) or Pvg (2 days layover) Fru Ist followed by 48 hours rest
- Some nice 2 days layover in nice hotels in Jakarta, Capetown always followed by 48 hrs rest time etc…
- Maximum 6 days duty in a row and NO double duty on the same day.

Well …Foreign Pilots rushed to Turkish Airlines. We were more than 1.000 !

Then there was the very terrible 2016 year with the « Coup « and terrorist attacks in Turkey and Istanbul airport.

All employee understood the hard situation of the Country and Turkish Airlines, expressing their good will, accepting lower salaries until situation stabilizes.

Unfortunately for us (see below) , great CEO Temel Kotil left (was requested to leave?) and a new Management put in place , ready to smash all employee working conditions.

In 2017 (4 years later):


- July 2017 Cpt LH Basic Money was 32.200 TL divided by 4,16 is 7.700 € +Bonus every 3 months and NO overtime (you fly 69Hrs59 min and they **** up your roster if you have overtime). Average is below 9.000 € all included on a 3 months basis.
You are payed on the 8th. Curiously exchange rate is always decreasing the days before. It is very frustrating.Just check if you don’t believe me.
Salary is adjusted every 6 months but below the official inflation.
Every month salary is going down as they pay all employee in TL while they are making huge money in Usd or €.
In the same time all your costs are based on Usd/€. Even for Turkish people as they import everything.Id 90 tickets and even training bonds or Flight academy for younger pilots is due in €/Usd. So their amount due is never going down !!
- Extra Appartment money is still at 2.000 TL (became 400 €) or Hyatt Hotel 5 stars but very bad location. We,expats, got the order to move to another hotel in 1 email sent 30/12/16 for 1/1/17 without any consideration of what we like and where we feel good. After enquiry with hotel managers, Thy moved foreign pilots from Titanic to Hyatt for a 10 TL difference a night (2 €). Yes!!
In this 4 years of time , renting an appartment became also much more expensive
- They implemented an insane new Flight Time /Duty time (except for 777 pilots, the winners) which allows them to force you destroying your health
Example: With 3 pilots,You can go now upto 17 hrs + 3 hrs (extension you are expected to accept) equal 20 hrs of duty !!!. So the Pvg Fru Ist becomes possible with 3 pilots ! and forget the 48 hrs min rest times as you spend only 24 hrs in PVG (instead of 48 hrs in PV. SO ….no jet lag considered in FTDT. So ….minimum rest
Same for Kabul (difficult and sensible place ) become with 3 pilots with a mandatory resting inflight patterns of 1H30 each. Stupid and dangerous as all pilots are dead tired upon landing in Istanbul after 15 hrs duty. Forget the 48 hours rest times.
Back from 11 hrs Cape Town at 5am loc time you have a Stby to fly again the same night
Back from 7 hrs Nairobi flight at 4am loc, you get a Stby the same evening from 10pm!!!
- After each flight you become Home Stby so your are stuck in Istanbul. Forget to go home, it is impossible. You belong to the Airline and they can do what they want with you. You are just nothing than a register number having his Turkish Phone mandatory open even in your rest times . You get notifications from Planning department that are considered as accepted as soon as you read it
- Of course, you can never make a request for a flight. Flight distribution is a secret. Hold by HR only . Even Flight Operations have nothing to say to HR .
But I , personally,have never been to Havana, Mauritius, Seychelles or Bogota, more than 2 years without Usa flights.
Kabul , Pakistan and Middle East were my usual flights.
- Cutting money from your salary is probably the fastest reaction they have. Everything is a reason to cut your money.
As you are permanently in stby, if you don’t answer 2 times your phone, you get cuts. Sick abroad? No way you are cut. Then sometimes you may get the money back if writing to your « delegated » assistant fleet manager who ,now, even doesn’t reply any more (because he is also demotivated and doesn’t get any "Office time" any more to reply to his pilots)
- Of course when you get annual leave , they make you fly the 70 hrs due in 2 weeks. It shows there is no good will from them to improve your expat schedule.
- Regularly, we received Text messages from Thy: « Dear esteemed (!!!!!) Captains, we are short of pilots…please accept requests from relevants units… » and at the same time they make them go away from Thy. Hard to understand isn’t it?
- 90% of Long Haul flights are night flights. Most of ER Departures are around 2 AM and arrivals around 5 AM. This very tiring and totally different from other Majors were one of the flight is a day flight. But Thy don’t take into consideration night duties. Only Jet lag if more than 48 hours. Then you are acclimatized …and you get 2 , 3 or 4 local nights…..that they can now, with new FTDT ,put in your regular off days! Well , the Job is exhausting.
- 9 days duty in a row, double duty in the same day. Example you can fly 9 times early or night flight in a row waking up at 3 am . No problem
- The 9 days off became actually 7 days as your tight schedules make it impossible to go home on the 21 st day and you get a duty on the 1 st day around 1 am …. So you have to travel early in your last day off….to have the minimum "12 hrs at Istanbul before a flight rule" they implemented.
- Hotel quality and locations changed drastically . eg: Sanghri La in downtown Jakarta became airport hotel. Southern sun waterfront hotel in Cape town became low class Protea hotel in an unsafe place. Radisson Blue in downtown Manhattan became Long Island Marriott at 1hr from Manhattan then low class Row Hotel in Manhattan.
As hotel locations are unsafe, we got a note that crews are not supposed to walk out of hotels !


Crash in Kathmandou is already forgotten. And this is the REAL problem.
They talk about Flight Safety every day but do not respect their pilots and their real responsibilities .
Atmosphère in the working environment became very bad.

New Airport located 1H30 from Istanbul will open on 29th October.
There is no train, no highway, no hotels right now.
While they expect thousands of employee will move there.
Nothing seems to be prepared. No message , no explanation . Nothing
It will be a huge mess as they want to transfer all Thy operations in 2 days

The main issue for management is to kill the new Official Union Hava-Sen that collected more than 4.000 applications in a few weeks.
Mainly Pilots but also a few cabin crew members .

The only way they found is to fire 2 Captains and 5 cabin crew to spread terror.

While, in the mean time ,Thy made huge profits:D:D

All this is true according to my personal experience on A 330/340
It ’s became a Hell.
And I don’t talk about 737 and 320 fleets where the new FTDT is worse and definitely killing them .

[SMT Member]

Hi.
How safe is Istanbul nowadays?, regarding being right next to Siria. Any terrorism threats?
Thanks.

AA

'Right next to', as in around 1100 km as the crow flies from Damascus to Istanbul?

Cyprus is a hell of a lot closer to Syria than Istanbul. But Turkey doesn't need to import terrorists from anywhere; they have plenty of homegrown talent.

[chrispatrickGA]

Biloute 68.


thanks for your comments.

[chrispatrickGA]

As anyone can easily check on any converter currency tool
1 EUR =5,12604TRY

means 32000 tl is now equal to 5900 euros per month as a long haul captain.
is that correct?

[allatp]

If you’re talking about İstanbul being right next to Syria I would like to state that you are very wrong. It’s at the far end opposite side of the country. And Turkey is big enough for me to say that the southeast of the country and the northwest are two different worlds.

Will you see a lot of refugees in Istanbul though? Hell yes. Just like in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy etcetera etcetera. It is a huge city that attracts all kind of people. Good and bad.

The locals complain more about the country’s politics than they do about something else. For them that’s the real danger.


For anyone considering moving to İstanbul: please understand that it can be tough to live/work there. Do not get me wrong it really is a beautiful and interesting place but living there is a whole other thing. Which makes it a love/hate story for a lot of people. Students, workers, daydreamers... Istanbul is actually a very big factor to consider as potential future employee of Turkish. (For many a huge negative factor).

In this city the flame can jump into the pan very quickly for expats and it can become very unpleasant. (Can you imagine the problems locals experience and just make that x2 for expats). Even though it is full with tourists and they are used to foreigners please understand that they can still be very intolerant to an outsider. Consider traffic rants, dealing with cab drivers, bureaucracy and all those things.

Something else to consider: To buy a car it is damn expensive. To own one and keep up with the gasoline is damn expensive. To use the public transportation is a problem. To deal with those cabdrivers: likewise.

I just wanted to share some things that can only be told and said by someone who actually lived there and knows the culture. As people will share mostly something about the company itself I wanted to pass on my knowledge about the city.

Mind you I am not trying to avoid someone from getting in. On the contrary, if you feel good about it go and try it for a couple of years. You will for sure have amazing moments and experiences in Istanbul and it is just a matter of having more positive sides than the negative. You just have to go with the flow and dynamics of İstanbul.

Cheers,
LW
LW thanks a lot for the insight. By the way, I meant Turkey right next to Siria not Istanbul.

[allatp]

'Right next to', as in around 1100 km as the crow flies from Damascus to Istanbul?

Cyprus is a hell of a lot closer to Syria than Istanbul. But Turkey doesn't need to import terrorists from anywhere; they have plenty of homegrown talent.

SMT got it, thanks a lot.
AA

[ahmerngokmen]

THY do not hire pilots only for B737/777, they are looking for pilots for A320/330 too.You do not need to Turkish citizenship and they offer some improvements on conditions (salary,roster etc.)

[ahmerngokmen]

Hi,
THY accept all country’s ATPL and they offer upgrade according your seniority in company (requirement;4500 hrs ,6 years experience and you will join exams for upgrades).You dont need to change your licence anyway.

[Python27]

Hi,
THY accept all country’s ATPL and they offer upgrade according your seniority in company (requirement;4500 hrs ,6 years experience and you will join exams for upgrades).You dont need to change your licence anyway.

Many guys heard the same tale a few years ago...

[erma330]

THY do not hire pilots only for B737/777, they are looking for pilots for A320/330 too.You do not need to Turkish citizenship and they offer some improvements on conditions (salary,roster etc.)

What is the improvement? Conditions are the same, paying in Turkish Liras that is depreciating every day loosing salary, flying back to home on days off is a mess, with no seat confirmed at Business class, no sick leaves, no health coverage out of work, salary deductions for a leave due to relatives sickness, not even rights granted provided(unpaid leaves not approved).

Where is the improvement??

[787Flyer]

Hello everybody,
I saw that they are hiring now 787 F/O , and I have read that a new salary scale is being applied in Euro, not T.L ,
anybody can confirm that , what is the actual salary for experienced F/O at 787 Fleet , and what about accomodation .??
Regards.

[psychomantic]

Hello everybody,
I saw that they are hiring now 787 F/O , and I have read that a new salary scale is being applied in Euro, not T.L ,
anybody can confirm that , what is the actual salary for experienced F/O at 787 Fleet , and what about accomodation .??
Regards.
no housing allowance for FO and salary still in TL

[WwP]

*Salary for fo is 6-7k euro at present currency. (1 euro = 6 try) paid with local currency

[de facto]

Hello everybody,
I saw that they are hiring now 787 F/O , and I have read that a new salary scale is being applied in Euro, not T.L ,
anybody can confirm that , what is the actual salary for experienced F/O at 787 Fleet , and what about accomodation .??
Regards.
Paiement in Euro.... ahahahaah thanks for the laugh😂😂

[Python27]

*Salary for fo is 6-7k euro at present currency. (1 euro = 6 try) paid with local currency

Salary for the 28th maybe. Today should be around 5,5 - 6,5. And droppin'....

But hey, widen your world !

[de facto]

Hello everybody,
I saw that they are hiring now 787 F/O , and I have read that a new salary scale is being applied in Euro, not T.L ,
anybody can confirm that , what is the actual salary for experienced F/O at 787 Fleet , and what about accomodation .??
Regards.
Your question should be which fleet will you upgrade to..😃

[safelife]

Upgrade? In Turkey?
Only for locals, former Air Force and/or university degree holders.

[de facto]

Upgrade? In Turkey?
Only for locals, former Air Force and/or university degree holders.
You are clueless.

[APU_inop]

Upgrade? In Turkey?
Only for locals, former Air Force and/or university degree holders.
Used to be the case but not anymore.


Your question should be which fleet will you upgrade to..😃
Always narrow body and then join the queue, this applies to the locals as well which is why many went to the Gulf.

[FlyingOW]

I keep getting sent emails with package for T7 DEC and it states 62.4K TL which equates to $11.5K. Inclusive of flight compensation and quarterly bonus upto 70hours a month. At 3 weeks on 1 week off.

Is that it? Or am i missing something?

OW

[psychomantic]

I keep getting sent emails with package for T7 DEC and it states 62.4K TL which equates to $11.5K. Inclusive of flight compensation and quarterly bonus upto 70hours a month. At 3 weeks on 1 week off.

Is that it? Or am i missing something?

OW


Yep, that's correct regarding the salary

[blues11]

Evening Ladies and Gents,

I am attending an assessment for inexperienced FO with A320 TR, any idea what one might expect on the sim profile? I have already went through the THY interview page and also posted there without much feedback.
Any information is welcome, looking forward to hearing from You.

Kind Regards,

Blues

[psychomantic]

Evening Ladies and Gents,

I am attending an assessment for inexperienced FO with A320 TR, any idea what one might expect on the sim profile? I have already went through the THY interview page and also posted there without much feedback.
Any information is welcome, looking forward to hearing from You.

Kind Regards,

Blues
Probably engine failure after V1, rejected takeoff, ils raw data, visual pattern. Standard sim

[Jazbag]

Any updates on the selection process and Ts and Cs for DEC A330 Captains? Anyone been through the interview recently? Thanks in advance

[flydog]

Same question for B737 DECs info appreciated

[flydog]

Blues 11

pm me pls

[sonoma]

According to one of the agencies, the pay quoted above is correct, but new T7 captains will no longer get accommodation provided, nor an allowance toward

[blues11]

Evening Ladies and Gents,

Any idea what happens after You have passed medical? How long do You wait for next mail/step?

Kind Regards,

Blues

[Donovan]

any news or information about todays open day for THY in AUH?

[tzakhi]

A lot of people think TRY will decrease again right after the Turkish local election in March. We will see how it will affect the company, if that happens.

[Jetkopite]

Hi guys,

Anyone recently attended the Turkish selection who can give a heads up on type of group exercises they do and what the interview is like in terms of type of questions they ask? Do they ask tech questions??? I’m looking at DEC for B777 so any other information regards selection and lifestyle on the B777 commuting from Europe would be most welcome..

Cheers

Jet✈️

[Rotate15]

Hello there,

If somebody joins as an experienced FO on the wide body fleet, what sort of time frame can you expect until upgrade?
(I heard you will be forced to narrow body for upgrade).

Thanks

[psychomantic]

Hello there,

If somebody joins as an experienced FO on the wide body fleet, what sort of time frame can you expect until upgrade?
(I heard you will be forced to narrow body for upgrade).

Thanks
upgrade depends on total hours and seniority. Could be several years. Definitely narrow body, 737 or 320. Depending on the need of the company

[de facto]

And down it goes again:oh:

[OSDELATROPO]

Hi,

I am looking for 777 Capt job closer to Europe than China.
Could anyone flying currently as a capt on 777 with THY Reply or PM me about life, roster, salary etc on the fleet?

many thanks

[FBW390]

Osdel...
For the Captain 777 : same as A330 Capt: the BIG problem is it's in Turkish Lira so it 's highly unstable! Last year some A330 Captains made just less than 7000 euros a month!!
Today it's 9000 euros after taxes, if in 2 months the Turkish Lira falls by 20%, your salary falls by 20%!
Life: not too bad, but on April 6th TK will use the new airport so it will be much les convenient...

Have a nice day!

[aronsha]

Osdel...
For the Captain 777 : same as A330 Capt: the BIG problem is it's in Turkish Lira so it 's highly unstable! Last year some A330 Captains made just less than 7000 euros a month!!
Today it's 9000 euros after taxes, if in 2 months the Turkish Lira falls by 20%, your salary falls by 20%!
Life: not too bad, but on April 6th TK will use the new airport so it will be much les convenient...

Have a nice day!

I have screenings for both but would like to stay in Europe too. but the Lira is so unstable. Making me nervous. Your opinion?

[gearlever]

I have screenings for both but would like to stay in Europe too. but the Lira is so unstable. Making me nervous. Your opinion?

Unstable?
I call it loser currency.


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1280x640/fe_hist_d2755497b68f50fcf996cfe6beeaab1826c760cb.png
TRY-USD

[737crew]

Unstable?
I call it loser currency.



TRY-USD

Will drop even more. Too unstable

[Mirage8024]

Hi guys:

I'm planning to attend to a THY Assessment for TR Captain 737 position with the company. I being reading some posts and the opinions are not so good.
Any opinions about the assessment and the company so far?.
I’m currently flying in a company where I fly average 85 hrs month and a HR department not friendly with the pilots. And only 8 days off per month and no roster for them, company assigned. No overtime paid.
Thank you all!.

[aronsha]

Hi guys:

I'm planning to attend to a THY Assessment for TR Captain 737 position with the company. I being reading some posts and the opinions are not so good.
Any opinions about the assessment and the company so far?.
I’m currently flying in a company where I fly average 85 hrs month and a HR department not friendly with the pilots. And only 8 days off per month and no roster for them, company assigned. No overtime paid.
Thank you all!.

just decided in favor of eva and against thy. with embargo sanctions coming the lira is expected to drop by 20-30%. screening seems to be quite fair but working conditions getting pretty bad. hr staff sketchy. my recomm is to stop wasting your time and apply somewhere else.

[737crew]

just decided in favor of eva and against thy. with embargo sanctions coming the lira is expected to drop by 20-30%. screening seems to be quite fair but working conditions getting pretty bad. hr staff sketchy. my recomm is to stop wasting your time and apply somewhere else.

Just slammed the door and heading for Asia. All of us Captains were under extreme pressure at THY recently. HR was doing a terrible job last years and still is. 5 years in Asia should give me a healthy distance to THY. Hope that they change their attitude in the meantime so I can return and do my job in my home country again.

[Mirage8024]

just decided in favor of eva and against thy. with embargo sanctions coming the lira is expected to drop by 20-30%. screening seems to be quite fair but working conditions getting pretty bad. hr staff sketchy. my recomm is to stop wasting your time and apply somewhere else.
You’re right. I was about to star the paperwork with THY but everyone says the Local currency is dropping everyday and pilot working conditions are not good at all at the present moment 😔.
My first option was Xiamen Air but with the MAX issues they cancelled my screening. Do you recommend any other?. (ICAO license 737 TR).
thank you

[Mirage8024]

Just slammed the door and heading for Asia. All of us Captains were under extreme pressure at THY recently. HR was doing a terrible job last years and still is. 5 years in Asia should give me a healthy distance to THY. Hope that they change their attitude in the meantime so I can return and do my job in my home country again.
sorry to hear that and thanx for replying.
i was excited about Xiamen Air but they cancelled my screening for the MAX issues 😔.
if you have any recommendations I’ll be glad to hear. I’m currently 737 Captain and hold ICAO license.
wish the best wherever you are!.

[sonoma]

It used to be the case that widebody DECs were given the option of company provided hotel accommodation while in base. That is no longer available.
Can anyone recently hired and sourcing their own accommodation near the new airport, tell us how their experience has been so far.
There is one hotel listed at/near the airport. I imagine early checkins and late checkouts, seasonal variation in room availability and cost, could make it a frustrating and expensive process.

[PapaEchoIndia]

Can accommate in hotels around Ataturk and use the shuttle buses, some expats still do that. Havent seen any hotel around the airport btw

[aronsha]

You’re right. I was about to star the paperwork with THY but everyone says the Local currency is dropping everyday and pilot working conditions are not good at all at the present moment 😔.
My first option was Xiamen Air but with the MAX issues they cancelled my screening. Do you recommend any other?. (ICAO license 737 TR).
thank you
hi mirage. you should try at ryr, they need dec. in asia garuda is definitely worth a notion. what about china southern? flydubai has also improved conditions.
​​​​

[AG9881]

Hi everyone,
Do you know if Turkish Airlines hire pilots with no Jet experience? I live in U.S I fly Shorts 360. I have around 800 hours Multi Turbine time and 1200 TT..

Best regards

[737crew]

Hi everyone,
Do you know if Turkish Airlines hire pilots with no Jet experience? I live in U.S I fly Shorts 360. I have around 800 hours Multi Turbine time and 1200 TT..

Best regards
Normally they don't. But there have been many exceptions to their rules recently. Would still try and send directly a mail to responsible person for recruiting expats.

[psychomantic]

Hi everyone,
Do you know if Turkish Airlines hire pilots with no Jet experience? I live in U.S I fly Shorts 360. I have around 800 hours Multi Turbine time and 1200 TT..

Best regards

They request 1500 hrs above 27 tonnes. Don't send them an email if you don't fulfill the requirements.

[gearlever]

Normally they don't. But there have been many exceptions to their rules recently. Would still try and send directly a mail to responsible person for recruiting expats.

A cousin or a friend or a friend of a cousin at the HR department may help also....

[AG9881]

psychomantic;

I've heard they hired bunch of new pilots (they had only 200 hours or something) from Germany. That's why I got my hopes up.

[Python27]

middle east is a place with no standards at all, specially a bad job like this where they don't have enough pilots to fill the vacancy. I wouldn't mind to try.... The no is likely, but it's free.

But I forgot... turkey is Europe HAHA
​

[tomuchwork]

Just went quickly over some posts, sorry if I missed somehing. It seems THY is getting more and more desperate, now reading that even turkish people are leaving is a bit impressive. I was interviewed for the THY "gig" already around 2013, passed but did not join(especially the THY "instructors" on the sim did not really made a great impression to me(e.g. had 3 of them, all locals, all THY - ALL of them talking ALL the time in turkish with each other, the guy that was supposed to assist me made an incredible bad job at it playing my FO(do not know if intentionally or it is just standard down there), most of the time I had to do it by myself because even repeatedly asked to do a job the guy never did, was to busy jabbing in turkish to his mates.Forgot to mention that my entire "sim briefing" was taking exactly 2 Minutes(yes!!) At the end I did it solo which turned out fine but not for me personally).

Apart from that they do NOT offer a proper commuting roster, even not for europeans. And I do not want my family in Istanbul(no offence, but that is how I feel, especially now with the new sultan rising, you do not want loved ones trapped in that country at the moment). Then there is the decreasing value of the turkish lira. Simply not interesting anymore for any westener. I need to pay my bills in Euros and not in TL(which are down to 0,15 already).

Now, Turkish tried a few times to "convince" me to join. Apparently now they are back to agencies, just received an email with the "fantastic" terms last week.

I would say - IF you got a job, don't even bother thinking about THY. IF you are young, low on experience, unemployed, it might be your time to join that outfit as they become more and more desperate. Strangly they do not think to improve salaries and commuting roster with guaranteed seat in the THY network, maybe offer Euros instead of TL to Western Pilots. So many ways they COULD attract pilots with significant experience, however, they choose not to. Not my airline so I honestly do not care.

[AG9881]

tomuchwork

I really appreciate it. I'm aware of all that stuff but I think it would be good experience to work there. I'm just not sure if they would hire me or not ...

[psychomantic]

Not only from Germany, but also other countries from Europe. But now only experienced FOs

[psychomantic]

tomuchwork

Some comments:
* desperate no. People are leaving, but also coming. Saw last week 10 captains opening a bank account in Yesilköy
* commuting roster (8/9 days block off) only for the widebody 777/330 with confirmed seat for captains only
* they won't pay in euro, don't expect that
* sultan or president, don't come up with things, don't make up

[AG9881]

Normally they don't. But there have been many exceptions to their rules recently. Would still try and send directly a mail to responsible person for recruiting expats.
Do you know if they ask for Apt? I'm 300 hours shy from my APT and ATP written.

[Monarch Man]

Capt numbers as emailed to me recently.

The breakdown of monthly gross wage of TL 60.749 payable to the Employee is indicated as below:
a) TL 2.396 Seniority Fee*
b) TL 25.499 flight compensation
c) TL 31.989 credited additional flight compensation
d) TL 865 Subsistence allowance
On top of the monthly gross payment indicated above, a bonus payment of TL 27.895 (approximately TL 9.298 per month) is to be paid to the Employee every three months (March, June, September and December, as for (a) seniority payment and (b) flight indemnity).
*Note: The salary is inclusive of a seniority allowance. If you hold a Bachelor’s Degree qualification, then this allowance shall remain included in the monthly salary. However, if you do not hold this qualification then the monthly gross salary will be reduced By TL 2,396.
This fee may vary according to education level, and after completion of the first one year, the employee is given one level of seniority.
The basic salary above is the gross amount payable by THY. Turkish taxes will be payable on this salary which are approximately 15% per month including social security deductions.

[aronsha]

Income taxes are much higher. It's about 20% without social sec deductions. THY isn't worth a notion.

[aronsha]

tomuchwork

They mailed me twice within 6 weeks. They stopped low hour pilots intake but desperately searching for DEC. I would rather work for Arik air than for THY.

[737crew]

A cousin or a friend or a friend of a cousin at the HR department may help also....
They had major changes in flight ops department back in 2018. Now it seems the new ones give priority to friends and family. Of course before that we had also cases like this. But now it has reached a new level.

​​​

[one mile]

any one can explain exactly what that roster pattern is,

Fixed roster of 4+3+1 off duty & on request 5+2+1 off duty

saw it on a cae parc aviation job offer

[selcalcheck]

Failures and anger.
I have been flying for THY since 10 years by now. Trainer skipper on Long Haul fleet.
Let me tell you: almost all those who spread anger and bad comments about the airline are just people who failed and cannot reach the grapes!
iI am not a turkish national but I have been accepted and treated like one of them.
Rostering? Just like any othe major competitor.
Salary? Yes TL going down against euro but company increasing salary to accomodate the exchange rate re-gainn as much as they can.
Flyiers, there is no paradise on earth. If you claim that Emirates, Qatar, Korean are MUCH better you simply make me laugh with my bottom. Plenty of EX Emirates, Qatar and Korean coming nowadays. I personally trained many of them.
So be realistic: aviation is NOT anymore a piece of cake. Flying is hard everywhere. Turkish is offering a decent salary, an excellent commuting contract (C/C confirmed tickets) and a warm human contact to foreigners.
You are free to choose.

[fatbus]

Good post ! Totally agree!

[tomuchwork]

So, if they added some good commuting in the last few years, glad to hear(some examples please).

About the "decent" salary we might have to discuss. Really depends WHAT/WHERE the center of your life is and in which currency you need to pay your bills. Fact is that at least 2 loco in Europe are paying better(depending on the country of your base and local taxes of course, but let's not forget that includes retirement as well).

EDIT: (a few hours later): I THOUGHT SO. But all complainers failed the soooooo hard interview at THY. Yeah. And goats can fly(actually they can - in Doha :E, another fantastic place, crappier than THY - and yes, I was there and can tell - pay is higher, on the other hand costs are as well)

[Kapitanleutnant]

SELCALCHECK.... That was the most spot on post on this entire thread! I was with TK as a 777 DEC in 2015 for a few years. I truly enjoyed it... the flying, the rostering, the camaraderie with other expats and the 10 days off with a confirmed seat to pretty much anywhere. I had been at a very slave like airline operating in Dubai and coming to TK was such a breath of fresh air... and the people at the airline were the most lovely I've ever encountered... ever!

As Selcalcheck mentioned, there is no perfect airline out there, but this one... in my own opinion of course, was really enjoyable.

Having said that, I have to be honest that the reason I left was not because I didn't like flying there anymore, but rather the political situation. After a decade of flying overseas, it was simply time to come back to my home country to fly. But to this day, I still think of my time at Turkish very fondly and if I see a Turkish 777 jet taxiing out for takeoff, I try to get in a "iyi uçuşlar" to the crew.

[joprato]

hi everyone

Quick question for a curious mind, is there any chance to go from A320/1 to A330 or even A350 (soon) if you join as a captain on the 320 fleet ?

Cheers

[1RAWDATA]

Hi guys! Selcalcheck, I completely agree with all you said above. Can anybody say , how long does it take to expect in queue prior to going to widebody fleet? Is it DEC? And is it possible ever? Is the queue transparent? For B737 Captain to B777 for instance. I would really appreciate your answers! Thank you.

[de facto]

As a joining 737 capt , you basically have zero chance to be a skipper on LH....with expension it takes minimum 8 years...those who joined in 2012 are starting to upgrade.
Expension ends 2023...do your maths!

[Capn Rex Havoc]

And what is this expension exactly?

[de facto]

If you joined today, youd have roughly 1300 captains in front of you without counting all the LH rated who are joining.
For the fleet expension, info widely available on the web.

[Capn Rex Havoc]

Yes but what is "EXPENSION", never heard of that word in english.

[FlightDetent]

It's the bit between expansion and expulsion. The word core same as in "expendable".

(exits stage left)

[Python27]

You can call THY of a merhubish job.

[tomuchwork]

see post #969. Nothing ever came from him. And I would have liked to hear that I was wrong with my feelings at the THY sim check and their instructors. But I guess I took the right decission NOT to join. Maybe a gig for some north americans(especially coming from the regionals), not europeans(bad exchange rate). What I do hear and see from THY crews on SH flying in the same airports we do agrees with my observations during the sim check(with this trainers no wonder).

Need a job, of course, join(needless to say). Leaving your (european) company for them, think well. No offence intended, but my honest observations for anyone interested.

[IBE8720]

tomuchwork.

I think the aviation world is getting sick of your constant whinging. You had a problem with Qatar, a problem with Turkey, and a problem with Korean (well you didn't into Korean, but still complain about them). Maybe the problem is you?

Please tell what wonderful job you have now, so we can come and join your perfect airline.

[PapaEchoIndia]

Hi guys! Selcalcheck, I completely agree with all you said above. Can anybody say , how long does it take to expect in queue prior to going to widebody fleet? Is it DEC? And is it possible ever? Is the queue transparent? For B737 Captain to B777 for instance. I would really appreciate your answers! Thank you.

The company publishes the seniority list every year, and it includes the information how the list is being prepared.

[Hakuna]

Hey guys...have joined THY and am waiting for the work permit to come through...how long does it take? TIA

[Bubufe]

Hai is there any housing allowance and education allowance for direct entry Captain?
thanks

[Canuck Flyer]

Hi there,

Apologize if I am on the wrong thread, but I am looking at some info on pass travel with Turkish. I am looking at going to YYZ from IST on Turkish next week on standby passes. I’ve heard that sometimes THY will deny standbys a seat even with space available in order to accommodate more cargo. Is this common for flights to YYZ or other North American cities?

Thanks in advance!

[SOPS]

Every airline I have worked for has off loaded standbys to carry more cargo... I don’t think it’s just TK that does it.

[jklm05]

hi all. looking for some info about Turkish Airlines. specifically how the roster is on A320, mostly layovers or turnaround, training, and expenses of living in Turkey. would appreciate feedback here or please pm me. thanks.

[Deskjocky]

i would also be very interested to hear any up to date info on the above, more so for the 737, thanks in advance to all

[Mirage8024]

Hi guys:
Does anybody knows what’s happening with Turkish Airlines recently??. I had an interview in the beginning of October and suddenly they told me that they’ve canceled all the hirings until further notice. Is it because of the MAX issues? Or is something related to the company?. If anyone knows something about it, will be appreciated.

[bob777]

i would also be very interested to hear any up to date info on the above, more so for the 737, thanks in advance to all
737=CAYENNE

[starbuck744]

Dear Valued Candidates,

First of all thank you for your expression of interest to be part of the Turkish Airlines family.

We would like to inform you that we have come to a stage where we have fulfilled our recruitment requirements therefore we will be holding off our screenings until further notice. Whilst we have requested some documents from your end as well as provided you with potential screening dates, it is with regret that at this point in time we will not be moving forward.

The successful recruitment drive that Turkish Airlines has been conducting in the last few years has resulted in a vast number of highly qualified and professional pilots become a part of the Turkish Airlines family. We are always on the lookout for experienced and professional candidates and would like to keep your application on file.

Turkish Airlines will be getting in contact with you if and when our recruitment drive commences to provide you with further information.

We thank you for your understanding and wishing you a pleasant day.

Please note that this is an automatic generated email and will not be replied to.

[mmorel]

any update on how is things now for an expat in turkey?

did they cuy their salary ?

[King on a Wing]

Yes this would be nice to know

[PapaEchoIndia]

March salary was paid in full terms (inc. 3 months bonus, overtime, etc), for April an amount of 700-750€ will be paid from government funds for all pilots (expat, local, capt., fo). If you had duty in April, company pays some amount per day but quite negligable,

[Ilyushin76]

selcalcheck

The best answer to all the critics out there. I've got many senior Capts and FOs flying for THY and the only concern (to a small extent, if at all) is the plummeting Lira which is obviously being compensated by the company in the best of its ability. Plus they didn't let any of the pilots go (as far as I've heard).

[Flapsupbedsdown]

Woww, this is LOVE!

[skyliners]

Latest Rumor, THY going to lay off all expat Cockpit Crew on September referring Turkish DGCA’s recommendation.

[Python27]

Ilyushin76

Check your info. There is a new update regarding your last sentence. TK will get rid of all expats very soon. Sad for our colleagues, but very happy that on daily basis, turkey is becoming less Europe and more what they really are by heart.

[mmorel]

Does anyone know why Turkish airline was interviewing flight crew for A350 from 2018 ? They have not received A350 yet.

[gearlever]

Look here......


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/689x1280/thy_exp_2f66c86e60b51c2bad147658b3fc4695c9690274.jpg

[Jack D]

Love it ! Finally a sense of humour surfaces amongst the despair.
Seriously for a moment, I have heard only good things about the flying , the crews incl cc and general cameraderie in LH fleets .
The main issue was the depreciating currency and fractious political situation.

[squarecrow]

Sounds like a Nationalistic comment meaning only local pilots soon. My 10 liras worth.

[polskiland]

Is the rumour true regarding removal of hotel accomodation due to COVID and flying 28h duty?

[gearlever]

Is this note also for locals or expats only?
Thx


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/739x1183/thy_lay_off_1dde77c3252a817cd2114f4fbdb23286df5109b3.jpg

[Warlock1]

Since it states “pass tickets back to your country”, I assume they are only getting rid of expats