How to get a job flying for charity organization.

[rigid2000]

Dear fellow aviators.

Currently I am eagerly looking for work as a First Officer flying for charitable organizations like:
Oxfam
The Red Cross
Christian Aid
Doctors without borders
etc.

Does anybody have any experience in this world or know how to get in contact and apply to these functions. I have looked around but couldn't really find any address to send my CV to. Any help will be appreciated by me and the people I will help :ok:

Hope to get many quick replies!

Regards,

Stef

[maxrated]

Hi Stef,

These NGO's and the UN , all sub-contract their aviation requirements out to various company's who then supply aircraft and crew on a contract basis.

The requirements are quite high even for first officer positions, if you want to get onto one of the Red Cross or UN, contracts.

You would need to get into one of these company's first. Zimex, NAC , Executive Turbine, Balmoral, Naturelink.etc

One exception to this rule is MAF, Missionary Aviation Fellowship, who supply their own aircraft and pilots.

I'm sure if you Googled the above company's you would find their contact details.

Regards.

[flying_hamster]

Hi there Stef,

I second the post by maxrated. Most NGOs sub-contract their flying duties.

However, do take note that having spoken to a pilot based in Nairobi, Executive Turbine has in fact shut down.

One of the bigger contract flying companies in the East African region is Aero Leasing Services (ALS | Customised Aviation Solutions (http://www.als.co.ke))

Hope this helps.
:ok:

[rigid2000]

Thanks guys,

what exactly do you mean with high requirements?

i have around 2500 hours TT of which around 2300 hrs jet, this should be enough i assume?


rigid

[flying_hamster]

in my opinion, i think that should be fine. Most operators are using propeller aircraft anyhow, and very little on jet engines. However, this is from what i had seen when i was in Kenya. Not sure if things have changed since. Worth dropping an email to some of these companies, as mentioned by maxrated.

Cheers mate! :ok:

[ppragman]

@maxrated

Other than MAF (which isn't really my thing) none of these places take US pilots. Which sucks. That and airserv I hear isn't all its cracked up to be.

[maxrated]

@ppragman.

Not true, most of the company's that I mentioned are South African, I know loads of non SA nationals who fly for these company's, assuming you get a job, they will arrange for you to get a SA licence validation which allows you to fly 'ZS' registered aircraft, on a foreign licence, north of the Limpopo river.

Zimex of Switzerland, on their website claims to only accept European licences but there are also exceptions made there, depending on client requirements and if they like you, and/or if you have the right experience and aircraft types on your licence.

Submit your resume to all of them anyway.

You are quite correct about Air Serve, definately the lowest paying aviation pilot contractors out there.

An Air Serve captian's salary would barely be able to cover a South African contract pilots bar-account, by the end of his tour.

If one is going to subject oneself to this sort of work one should really do it for the highest financial rewards possible.

@Stef,

You seem to have enough experience for a Captain position in at least some of these operations.

What is also important as a foreign national applying to one of these contract company's is aircraft types on your licence.

If you have a King Air, B190, Cessna 208 or DHC6 on your licence you have a good chance. To a lesser extent DC3 TP, and ATR.

You should also be prepared to live and work out of some seriously crappy places.

Additionally, anyone who fly's out of the book will not enjoy this sort of work. You will often be called upon to make decisions and actions that would get you fired in any first world country. ( You should check out another thread, 'You know you are in Africa when..' )

It is however the best flying and the most fun for the easiest money, that you will ever do in your life.

Any further questions let us know.

Cheers, Max.:}

[Cardinal Puff]

It's only easy money until the shooting starts...

[rigid2000]

Thanks for the replies guys, appreciate it, im a wiser man now...

I guess I have the hours but not the types in my logbook.

I dont mind the simple ways of Africa, its actually a reason for me to go there. Get some taste of the African adventure. And crappy places I have stayed many times. They are my home ;)

Happy CFIT's and if anybody hears of any open positions, please post here or pm me!

Rigid:D

[big buddah]

"It's only easy money until the shooting starts........."

The money is get worse by the year! The shooting seems to be more? It's only then you ask yourself WTF are you doing!


"I dont mind the simple ways of Africa, its actually a reason for me to go there."

Must be Portuguese? Aviation in Africa ain't simple? far more the opposite even more so if you're contract flying.

[rigid2000]

Bravo Buddah! :D

For your bad english and generalising. Im not Portuguese actually, pretty far from it. I love the country though.

Also bravo for completely misinterpreting my statement about the easy ways of Africa. It never takes long for someone to stop by and just completely ignore the subject of the thread and spew his discontent all over the web.

Dont bother replying and if you do, know I will ignore it from now on. Maybe you should get a real hobby! Oh and stay out of Africa!

Anyway, if people still have something useful to say, please dont hold back. Im still open for new suggestions or company names.

Regards,

Rigid

[chileno 777]

Rigid,

Have you ever been in (black) Africa? Have you ever worked in (black) Africa? Have you ever flown in (black) Africa?
Think that your last post was quiet harsh against someone who was just giving you an advice and personal view that in certain way is true.
I believe that in Africa we need more people like you…idealistic and less like me (sarcastic, cinic and not believer) but after living in this continent for more than 15 years I strongly consider that (black) Africa (some countries more, some less) is quite far for been simple. Life and aviation here is pretty complex and most of the time very difficult!

[rigid2000]

Hi Chileno,

I have been in (black) Africa, I havent flown there though. Really Im not that misinformed or naive that I have no clue what Africa is about. Im sure some people love it and some hate it.

Im sure my reply was harsh, I thought and still think his post doesnt contribute. All I saw was a bitter man that loves to generalise, Im portuguese apperently just because he sees Lisbon in my profile.....
Also I fail to see any advice in his post.

I have spoken to many and I mean many people that have flown in Africa and nobody has been as negative as you two. I wonder why, mostly people tell me its the best flying out there and I want to find out for myself. I might make a big mistake, if so, I pack my bag and go elsewhere. Lesson learned. Making mistakes is perfectly allowed.

Anyway, if you have been there so long and dont really like it, why not try your luck elsewhere?

Regards,

Rigid

[chileno 777]

Kindly invite you to read my previous post again.


I NEVER said that I do not like Africa, or that this continent doesn’t have good people or things.


Since you criticized so blatantly the English level of Buddah, I really thought that your English skills (or at least the comprehension part of it) were good enough to understand what I posted.


I just said that life in the Africa South of Sahara is not easy to deal with. Corruption, crime, lack of proper infrastructure, blackouts, no water supply, diseases like malaria, and the government incompetence (just to mention a few examples) make the days in the black continent not “simple” at all.


So… if normal life is complex can you imagine how challenging and sometimes dangerous is working in aviation here? Hence, instead of attacking somebody who gave you an advice/opinion why don’t you just listen because probably he could be right!


BTW… regarding of your childhood statement of “if you don’t like leave it”, think that you must learn that sometimes in life we have some more important issues like family that not allows us to leave or that we have further goals in our live and we need to make some sacrifices in the present in order to achieve them in the future. Hope that your stay in Africa will help you to learn and acquire some maturity with regards to this issue.

[maxrated]

Chileno and BigBudda,

Aviation in Africa ain't simple? far more the opposite even more so if you're contract flying

I dissagree, anyone who advocates this line of thought clearly has never had to deal with JAR OPS/EASA on anyofficial level in Europe.

The challenges of flying in Africa are maily due to lack of controll whereas in Europe the challenges are due to over controll.

Example.

In Africa, its much easier to attach a 10$ note to your flight plan and send it up to the tower than try file a flight plan , the correct way, with Eurocontroll or for that matter, any Australian ATC facility.

The problems one encounteres in Africa are largely due to incompetance and not due to some vindictive jobsworth ****e sitting in Brussells Eurocontroll who repeatedly bounced my flight plan back at me because there was a ',' not a '.', at some point in field 28 on my flight plan.:ugh:

Rant over....

[Agaricus bisporus]

Rigid, coming back on topic, I think you'll find it very difficult to achieve a flying position in Africa by design, these jobs tend to happen by luck.

All the charities you've mentioned use aircraft but as was explained do not own them. The one major charity that does own one is not in your list, but is crewed locally, I believe.

Your only real chance is to apply to the contractors mentioned above, but even if you were hired you'd have little or no say over where they sent you, which is as likely to be out of Africa as in it. Sure, the RSA operators tend to be more Africa minded, but ICRC, MSF and Oxfam work worldwide and contract with the companies mentioned. You could find yourself anywhere, India, Borneo, Haiti, Sri Lanka - look at their websites and see how widespread their work is.
Much, if not most NGO flying is done on an ad-hoc basis using local operators because it is so expensive and they limit flying as much as possible. Contracts tend to happen, I think, in places where either terrain or security make road transport impractical, eg Somalia and Sudan. Most of Africa is accessible by truck and bus for most of the year so this is the preferred method of trasnsport. Flying emergency food aid into the bush generally only happens in the heat of a big famine and then for a short time until the truckpools are organised. It is a chronically inefficient and costly way of doing the job.

Most NGO work is flying personnel, drugs and technical supplies (tools, pumps) and western food into inaccessible areas. The down side is the excessive number of journalists, politicians, UN functionaries who think they are God, and "experts" of every kind on "fact finding missions" who could perfectly well get there by jeep but "don't have the time". You need a thick skin and patience!

Having said that there are many places you might end up in Africa which would make you wish you were anywhere else in the world, absolutely anywhere but there. Try Mogadishu for security, Lokichoggio for tedium and flies, and some stinking, corrupt, malaria infested sauna-like dump in W Africa for everything nasty all at once.
Flying in bush Africa is all about looking after everything yourself, doing everything yourself, and being utterly practical about your flying. It has little to do with anything experienced in Europe, and so European experience is of little help unless you were in a very operational environment there. It is far more like military ops in many ways.

Some people adapt and love it, even in those sweaty malarial dumps, others don't.

NGOs are notoriously fickle and contracts come and go, there may be little or no continuity of employment and if you are taken on specifically for one contract (as is likely) when the job ends - or the problem is solved/over then likely that's you through the door.

Having said that some parts of Africa are wonderful to live in and operate from. These are generally on the E, SE and S. Problem is nationalism has taken over in most places now and local jobs for expats are hard to come by. Others will tell you how hard it is to get, say, a Kenyan licence and then hang around Wilson Airport banging on doors - you might get a job on a Caravan or a 404.

Good luck, you'll need it, but nothing is impossible!

[rigid2000]

thanks for that agaricus,

im think im pretty up to date now. it seems to be as i pictured it..... (once im there im sure it will be different then i pictured it)

im aware they choose where you will be positioned. initially when i wanted to fly in africa i set my mind on botswana, namibia and malawi, flying toerists etc. just to have some other options i started looking into the charitable organizations. anyway now i know. i have already applied to most of them.

@chileno, well i know i was harsh to the other guy (he was pretty harsh himself) and later when i read my post i thought i could have formulated things differently. still there is no advice in his post, so get over that.
so u replied and i replied to your post, now it seems your getting as agressive as i was to the other guy, which doenst make you any better now does it. anyway, i dont like waisting my energy so also this will be the last i say about our conversation.

have a good one!

rigid

[BC-SAX]

Just adding...only ASF and MAF are true humanitarian flying organizations. ASF plays around with 206s and MAF is moving up slowly into the 208 field. I believe MAF have more than 200 aircraft around the world. MAF is religious-based and very much a family orientated group. Air Serv International was an off-shoot of MAF setup to access US funding for the Ethiopian famines of the 80s. These days it has all but lost its heritage and is a dinosaur propped up by US money. Shame as there are a couple of long-termers in the group with really big hearts.
All other operations are purely commercial and mostly from SA or Kenya. AC tend to be C208s, King Airs for field work; Metros, Embraers and B1900 for medium legs and CMC from Kenya with Dash 8s. Voyageur from Canada are also players in the Dash 8 game.
Very difficult to break into the game unless you're a local of these countries. The local CAAs want to enforce employment of their people in preference to foreigners.