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Old 2nd Apr 2009, 14:21
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1. What do you mean by astronaut's interview? Sounds scary.

Well I have been a pilot 9 years now, and I have been in all different kind of operations, and hiring process. Colombian is not different than any other Latin Americans, reason why is because in our third world country Aviation still something out of reach for a lot of people, and being a pilot is not just a job, so they treat it that way. On the begining it is hard to understand if you grew up here. They make everything harder than what actually is. BE READY!!!!

2. If you were interviewing, how would you get ready? What should I review and learn. I just finished taking my commercial test and passed. I also scored 98% in written.

AVIANCA asks for a written test (based on FAA Comm. /INST written test, plus colombian Regulations) AEROREPUBLICA ( FAA ATP written test). Aires. mmmmmmmmmm..... you never know ( they still amking their own)

3. Do you know who the hiring manager is? For example, what I did for Avianca was sent a basket of foods with my resume to HR. It worked, it got their attention and hopefully it will secure and interview with them. Risky, but it seems like it works.

well, that was pretty funny what you did with the basket, they need people right now and they don't really care who that is to start the selection process.


4. How many years did you flew for them and what are the likes and dislikes?

There is a lot good stuff about them, I can't tell you the ugly part of it, but I have to say that there A LOT.
Shoot for Avianca first....... (history, financial stability..etc) Aires (small airline), AEROREPUBLICA ( COPA's ), SATENA..mmmmmm consider it if you like to be treated like you are in service for the airforce

5. If I want to switch companies within Colombia later on, does not having the type affect me? I still don't understand how can you fly without the type. I was under the impression that is required, more than 12,500, but it is Colombia after all.

Colombian regulations are different than FARs, In Colombia believe it or not, you don't even need to have a Multi-engine to fly a F100 as FO. , so DO NOT convert your multi engine.
Therefore you don't have to be typed to fly as a FO, they give a (HABILITACION) which means, you can serve a a Flight crew.
FARs only required to be typed if act as a PIC ina AC over 12,500 lbs.


6. Does age matter, I just turned 29.
NOT for AV, AERO, AIRs..... only for cargo companies with heavy equip.

7. Anything that I'm missing. I know there are a lot of unknowns for me. Why do you do this, I find that some pilots don't offer the info.

Because I enjoy helping others, and besides I am looking for some info in the middle east, and expect the same from them.

8. Thank you one again, your help is priceless and like I said, hopefully I will at least get to buy you a drink in the near future.

jajajaj, It would be fine.


............................................................ .............................

Last edited by Heading090; 21st May 2009 at 22:57.
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Old 2nd Apr 2009, 17:50
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What can be done before spending $$$

Before you move there and start spending money in your convalidation, there is any way that someone down there take a look at your resume and let you know if there is a solid interest in hiring you?

If somebody tell me yes we do have interest, do your convalidation and we will accept you in the selection process, then I will take the risk for sure.
Like AeroDiaz, I'm in Canada, 950 TT, 450 Multi Turbine (King Air 200), I wouldn't mind live in someplace warmer and flying a pretty good machine.
Thanks

p.s. soy sudamericano asi que no problem with the language.
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Old 2nd Apr 2009, 20:13
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Mustang,
read previous replies, I can tell you that you ONLY need 250 hours to get hired in Colombia....... ahhh and some more good stuff. But if you are concerned about you flying hours, you are good.
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Old 2nd Apr 2009, 21:49
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I know I'm okay regarding experience but

I'm not colombian, I'm not married to a colombian and don't have colombian licences, is there any way to talk to somebody there (chief pilot or hr) to know if they would hire me even it I'm not colombian citizen?
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Old 2nd Apr 2009, 23:26
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Mustang,
you must be Colombian, or be legal to work there. there is no other chance... sorry., do you know how much they make down in Colombia, and how long it takes to upgrade to Captain??? these are the things to consider in your case... If I were you, I would try Air Canada Jazz, they are hiring right now, I am thinking about it... but I guess we are in the same page here, I am not canadian.... hahahahaha.
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Old 3rd Apr 2009, 02:48
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Esto se puso bueno!

This is getting interesting. A lot of people sharing information without insulting each other (just like avcanada right?). Thanks again for the interesting info HDG090.

And you are absolutely right. Jazz is still hiring but there are a lot of pilotos with tons of experience trying to get those jobs. (like you I guess)
You don't need to be a Canadian to fly commercially here. As far as I know some americans come up here to fly floats during the summer time. I think that the americans are allowed to live/work in Canada without a work permit or resident card for up to 6 months. Maybe you could try to get the Canadian resindent card.

Let us know when you are coming to Canada. If we can give you a hand you can count on us. We also like to help other fellow pilots like you do. Besides, Mustang06 has a very good taste for wines.

Now, I have a few questions:

- I don't have a Multi engine rating on my canadian license. But I do have 2,000 hrs on the Caravan. Can I get a job on the Fokker 100 in Colombia?

- As far as I know Avianca hires only pilots born in Colombia right?

- In your opinion, wich airline gives the best work conditions in Colombia.

- How long would it take to get a left seat position for the "average joe", lets say on the Dash 8?.


Saludos chavalos
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Old 3rd Apr 2009, 03:37
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My fellow Latino Pilots...

This is getting interesting. A lot of people sharing information without insulting each other (just like avcanada right?). Thanks again for the interesting info HDG090.

No problem, Like I said, I enjoy helping others in my spare time.


And you are absolutely right. Jazz is still hiring but there are a lot of pilotos with tons of experience trying to get those jobs. (like you I guess)

You don't need to be a Canadian to fly commercially here. As far as I know some americans come up here to fly floats during the summer time. I think that the americans are allowed to live/work in Canada without a work permit or resident card for up to 6 months. Maybe you could try to get the Canadian resindent card.

Yeah I looked at the add they have, but they require canadian Pilots license, and mine is FAA, and also they said that you must have legal paperwork in order to be employeed by them.... help me out here, if you can find out more info for me ..


Let us know when you are coming to Canada. If we can give you a hand you can count on us. We also like to help other fellow pilots like you do. Besides, Mustang06 has a very good taste for wines.

hahaha, sure. I always wanted to visit some friends in Canada.


Now, I have a few questions:

- I don't have a Multi engine rating on my canadian license. But I do have 2,000 hrs on the Caravan. Can I get a job on the Fokker 100 in Colombia?

OH Yeah, Like I said, in Colombia you get hired with 250 hrs NO MULTI, ICAO level 4 english... editted by author.....
You have a lot of hours, you will be challenged during interviews.

- As far as I know Avianca hires only pilots born in Colombia right?

Negative, I have a spanish friend flying there, so for fact need to be legal...


- In your opinion, wich airline gives the best work conditions in Colombia.

All work conditions in Colombia are pretty similar, but what you should consider is... Airline history, market, and upgrade time.
Nobody has asked this one before, but here we go, FO's in average in Colombia make 3.700.000 Colombian Pesos (1,680 USD). Unless you fly for a cargo airline ( Heavy Metal)


- How long would it take to get a left seat position for the "average joe", lets say on the Dash 8?.
mmmmmmmmmmmmm..... In average..... some Airlines could take you up to 10 years!!!!, all depends on their growing rate, which it should start to slow down by now....

See you................................

Last edited by Heading090; 16th Apr 2009 at 19:36.
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Old 3rd Apr 2009, 04:59
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Heading090,

Again, thank you very much for all the information.

What about the cargor airlines like Tampa, LanCo? Are working conditions and pay better.

MDT
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Old 3rd Apr 2009, 06:52
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So, how does the Colombian citizenship work? My mother is from Medellin, but I was born in the United States, would I be able to claim dual citizenship to work there?
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Old 3rd Apr 2009, 11:37
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Wildflyin

If your mother is Colombian you could request Colombian citizenship, yes. Prepare for some queuing, some inconsistencies in documentation requested, lots of paper, but you should be able to get your citizenship.

Normally people try to find a family member with a non-colombian citizenship in order to avoid visas...
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Old 3rd Apr 2009, 23:02
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Nos tomamos un tintillo

Heading 090

You are more than welcome to the big white north, so you say you must be colombian citizen to work down there but at the same time you mention some spanish guys working there, how is that?
Also, to work for an airline here you need to be canadian citizen or landed immigrant (permanent resident card, like a green card).
Aviation is not a wonderful thing here, lots of companies but lots of pilots too, I got a call for an interview and the company offers 19k with a 2 years bond training of 20k (if you leave you pay), working 12 to 14 hours at day, loading yourself the plane and living in a city when a one bedroom appartment cost you 1000$.
Anyway we are not talking about Canada here, lets continues with Colombia, you need or not to be colombian citizen?
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Old 4th Apr 2009, 00:05
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Mustang, and all interested,
In order to be accepted for interviewing in Colombia you must:
  1. Be Colombian Citizen, or have a work permit ( sort of a green card in US).

Last edited by Heading090; 21st May 2009 at 23:01.
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Old 4th Apr 2009, 02:51
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It Would'nt Look Bad On Your Resume

Heading090 said,
"Yeah I looked at the add they have, but they require canadian Pilots license, and mine is FAA, and also they said that you must have legal paperwork in order to be employeed by them.... help me out here, if you can find out more info for me .."


Here you have some useful links about the license conversion:

http://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/ge...Conversion.htm
http://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/ge...ac0601.htm#6_3

And check out TiredCRJDriver's post on this forum:

http://www.pprune.org/canada/306028-faa-canadian-cpl.html

Now, even if you don't get a job in Canada I think it is always good to have licenses from different countries. You never know when you are going to need it especially during rough times like this.

In my case, I'm trying to get the FAA CPL. (I've just sent the confirmation form) For a weird reason companies in latin america worship this license.


Bueeeeeeen dia.
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Old 5th Apr 2009, 16:12
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FAA to Canadian CPL it's very easy

Heading 090

As Aerodiaz says it's very simple to convert your FAA to Canadian CPL multi ifr, the first thing you need it's to call a medical examinator for Transport Canada, there are many in the states, go to transport canada website to find the list.
Here in Montreal there is an school call air richelieu who specializes in the convertion, if you need further info please do not hesitate to ask Aerodiaz or myself.
Thanks for the good info

Mustang06
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Old 14th Apr 2009, 15:27
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Just for a general info....AVIANCA WILL NOT HIRE ANYMORE PILOTS AT THIS TIME....they might start again in Nov or Dec 2009...
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Old 15th Apr 2009, 18:20
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FO that has no idea what torque is??

OH Yeah, Like I said, in Colombia you get hired with 250 hrs NO MULTI, poor english... scary that you ride a Jet with a FO that has no idea what Torque is.. but that's the way it goes.
You have a lot of hours, you will be challenged during interviews.

Sorry Heading090 but I have to disagree with you on that, it is true, you can get hired with 250TT in Colombia, maybe even less, but no copilots have been hired by AVA that do not meet ICAO level 4 english minimums, so, Poor English?? not according to ICAO.
Sure many of the kids coming straight from flight school with just a little over 200TT may not know what torque is when they apply for the job but trust me thats what ground school is there for and that applies to all airlines here in Colombia, I flew for Satena before joining AVA and I felt very well trained in ground school and in the sim and thats satena that is not even a fourth the size of avianca, some of my friends flew for Aires and they have assured me that the training in Aires is the toughest they have gone through.
I can tell you that the training offered by AVA or Aires is some of the best out there and by that I mean some of the best in the region (as in South America).

So saying that the guy in the right seat of a F100 or a Dash8 or similar here in colombia has a poor level of english or has no idea what the instruments in front of him mean is a bit of poor judgement on your part IMHO.


My 2 cents.
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Old 15th Apr 2009, 18:40
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Welcome Back AVA pilot.

MDT
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Old 15th Apr 2009, 19:52
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... it might be a stupid question, but any kind of facilities or special work permit for Citizens of any Pacto Andino associated Countries?

I'm chilean Newbie... standard stuff 250TT ICAO 5 bla bla bla...and i'm starting to think it would be interesting going up there for some flying,
will i have a chance based in your knowledge of market?? mostly thinking in GA or small Airlines, Avianca sounds good, but must be a big line of experienced chaps there....

Besides it's been a while since we're getting loads of nice colombian chicas down here, so must be quite interesting above the Ecuador

Saludos!
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Old 16th Apr 2009, 19:29
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AVAPilot,
I have to say that you are 100 % correct, now let me express my recognition to all the pilots in Colombia, in fact I have a bunch of friends flying for all four major airlines in Colombia. I also would like to say that airline pilot training in Colombia is one of greatest around the world, and I have never had the inttention of mislead what I said.
I hope we keep this thread informative as we had it for the past 4 weeks...


Take care, keep the blue side UP!.
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Old 17th Apr 2009, 00:11
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Thanks

AVAPilot,

Welcome to the forum and thanks for your comments.

We already know that Avianca will not be hiring in the near future but I would like to ask you a couple of questions anyway:

- Is it true that Avianca hires foreign pilots with colombian citizenship? Would a resident visa be enough to get the job while I get the citizenship?
- Could you tell us a bit about the career ladder in Avianca?
- What's the base salary for new FO's?
- Any other info, tips or advices will be very appreciated.

Thank you again,

Happy Landings.

-------------------------------------------------------------

MDT06,

Are you in Colombia my friend?. Let us know how it goes!. Good luck and smooth landings!
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