CENTRAL AMERICAN PILOTS EXODUS
 

CAN ANYBODY TELL ME WHY ALL THIS PILOTS FROM CENTRAL AMERICA ARE DOING INTERVIEWS AND WORKING ALL OVER ASIA, MIDDLE EAST, ETC...
IS TACA THAT BAD?

Hi PipeRider,

First of all let me thank you for asking how life is around here, not every one wonders what happens on this side of the world.

As a Captain of the A320 with more than 10 years of working for the airline as a captain you can expect the following:

- SENIOR CAPTAIN:$3400.. per month (payed in your country's currency which means you will win less every day.). A new captain and a 59 year old captain get the same.
- Not a single raise for more than 4 years now.
- No overtime payment or sectors or night time, no extra money. You just get your base salary and that's it.
- Vacations.... forget about them, you can ask for them but you'll never know when you'll get your 15 days promised per year...
- No contract, it doesn't exist and no Union, it is illegal to have a pilots union here.
- If you complain they'll kick you out.
- No 5on 2off or whatever, work more than 85 hours a month in whatever way the scheduling department thinks suits them best. I mean they can call you today and tell you you won't be free tomorrow even tho that's what your line says.
- When you travel in the airline as extra crew for example.., you are subject to space, in the worst seat available and you won't get anything to eat (of course). If they could they would send you standing by the door so that you won't occupy a single space in the aircraft even if exec class or other seats are available.
- No loss of license insurance.
- NO OTHER 'BIG' AIRLINE IN THE REGION so they can keep on doing this for as long as they wish.... (at least they think so... it has worked so far)
- Pension.... Less than half your salary per month.... that is not a pension.
- As you can guess by now, moods are not the best here.
:yuk:


Heard QR will be setting an office for recruiting in Central America.... pilots here are being practically trained for them....

Many factors have helped this situation end this way and while this empire keeps on growing here, things will not get any better. The airline seems to be related to the mob maybe... old CEO was murdered on 2004 (this is no s*&t)..

I hear everyone complaining in other airlines and I think, they are right to complain about that, if they don't fight for their rights they might end up working in another TACA. As far as this airline keeps doing what it does you'll be meeting new central american pilots all over the world.

LongAgo9

Longago9,

Good grief !! A320 pilots are in demand all over the world if the job postings are to be believed.

What is the turnover rate there ? They must have a revolving door in the personnel office ?

Why don't your pilots take their experience and go someplace where they are appropriately compensated. You guys are being treated like dirt from the sound of it.

Airline managements only understand one thing: airplanes sitting over by the fence with the tires going flat, collecting guano because they have no crews to fly them.

Why not show your management what that looks like ?

Bafanguy,

You're right, there is demand all over the world, some of us are moving to other places but there are still ones who belive in management's fairy tales....

The turnover rate is not as high as you would imagine it would be, you would expect captains running away for better jobs but instead younger FOs are leaving as soon as they accumulate some time and have their rating (smart thing to do). Old captains have taken on this for longer than you can imagine so SADLY most of them have gotten used to it and they haven't realized there are possibilities overseas.

Just to give you a number last month more than 12 pilots resigned their jobs(most of them FOs), some of them leave to the middle east, others try to get a job doing something else... New FOs don't even have a base salary they win per hour so one of them got like $400 in 1 month, that's SAD! This happened because the company suddenly thought last year that new pilots would win per hour and wouldn't have a base salaray...:ugh:

Central America is full of pilots, the good thing is they are not all A320 rated... TACA has hubs in El Salvador, Costa Rica and Peru so there are still pilots who will support the airline for a few months if there was a massive exodus. Seems that this won't be happening far from now, QR will be recruiting in El Salvador, visiting other countries maybe and there are rumors that some indian companies will visit us to recruit pilots next month. Good for those companies, they are taking advantage of TACA's money, TACA trains the pilots and they just come here offer them a DECENT deal and just take them. TACA will be losing a lot of money in trainigns and staff (which is not their no.1 priority as you see) and that sounds good..

If you ask me it's better to be in the sand pits than being here from the work perspective point of view. Most pilots would rather be treated in the right way but have a hard time leaving their country, the thing is if they don't do it conditions won't change for good.

Thanks for reading,

LongAgo9

Well, there's the old saying that there is no reality...only perception. I guess the guys who are content to stay are...well...content to stay.

Can you live in your part of the world on $3400/mo, provide for the family, and put away a bit for retirement ?

In any event, good luck to you.

Hi Longago9, sorry to hear what you guys have to go through. Being from Cuba myself, I knew first hand that our captains at Cubana get paid WAYYY... below average than their counterparts in any other part of the world, including The Americas. However being qualified and all you just can't apply to any other job and leave the country. It sucks, but they 've found ways to beat the system and make some money and I don't blame them. What you're telling us is sad, I've been looking forward to the opportunity to fly in Central America for a major carrier but not with those rules. Let me know sir if I can be of any help to you, saludos...

bafanguy,

Thanks for your words. I guess you're right we can say that, "guys who are content to stay are...well...content to stay."

As for me I am leaving for better conditions in other company. As for TACA, I guess they won't change for the good of their employees but industry might change the way they look at things. QR is setting up an office for recruiting in El Salvador and there is a new recruitment office for an Indian airline being set up in Costa Rica these days.

As answer to your question, $3400 are not good at all here, you can pay $1000 for house, $400-$500 of fuel (REALLY HIGH COST HERE), $1000 AT LEAST for your children (if you have two), $1000 for having two cars.. all in all it's impossible to save a dime here...

CubanadeAviacion,

Gracias! Belive me working for this company is not a good thing at all. Flying in Central America, North and South America is cool but not with these guys, I appreciate your words and will keep your contact handy! If I can be of any further help with questions regarding this company please feel free to contact me, I can keep on going for years to keep you away safe from these guys! Saludos!

LongAgo9

Longago9,

Good luck. Hope it all works out for you.

Longago9 good to hear you're moving on. I wish you good luck and same here, feel free to get in touch. Best of luck to you and family!

Thanks to both!!:)

The worldwide market-driven competition for pilots is great for all pilots, including those in Central America-- all of them (those who are willing to go and those who want to stay). It is a nice scenario when employers worry about losing their human resources and try a little harder to keep them.

Interestingly, I recently made a friendship with a retired Cubana de Aviacion pilot who still lives in Havana. While actively flying, he would earn an equivalent of about $1000 USD per month which is fairly decent money relative to Cuban wages. However, as a retired person, he tells me that his pension is somewhere in the range of 750 Cuban Pesos per month. This is in the moneda nacional-- not the convertable variety which almost all Cubans are after. With an exchange rate of about 25 Pesos: $1, his pension is about $30 per month. . . still 3 times the average wage in Havana, but not enough to get by without being creative.

longago9, Bienvenido al Medio Oriente. Inshallah te guste. :cool:

Believe it or not, $30 bucks won't get you anything in Havana because the gov. prices are like the ones in the states if not more. It's funny I saw a video the other day of a store in la habana that was selling a computer monitor, flat screen, 17" for 2200.00 USD, I know I know... but it's true! Anyway they all seem to like it at Cubana and I believe we do a great job with what we have. Anyone have working conditions and requirements on Copa, Avianca, LAN Chile, etc.?

COPA wages and benefits I have been explained are worse than those of TACA. With NG quals, some of the COPA guys are looking elsewhere too, but unfortunately, the Type Rating is on a Panamanian Licence . . . COPA refuses to let them get the type rating on a US ATP . . . this is one advantage the colleagues at Grupo TACA definately have going for them.

I've heard COPA's pilots have their problems with the company as you say but the situation in the region in general is really bad:yuk: .

Maybe a massive exodus would help as I said before, who knows... Companies will not change for the well being of their employes around here, they'll change when the industry forces them to change.

More guys are leaving to India and ME this coming month, I plan to update this thread with the number of people leaving when I can.

I hope people from other places read this thread so they won't let their situation get as it got here.:(

Saludos

This is by far one of the more interesting threads on this forum in a long time.