LAN Airlines South America
 

Hey Everyone,

I am a semi-recent graduate from the University of North Dakota and like my fellow classmates, I am looking to make the move from flight instructor to Airline Pilot. I am really interested in flying for LAN in South America, but its been almost impossible to find a point of contact within the company! I've done as much research as possible online and I am now left with a ton of unanswered questions with no one to answer them! I have around 500 TT hours, 40 ME hours, CPL ME and INST, CFI and CFII, United States and Uruguayan citizenship. Do I have a chance of landing an interview? Is the interview conducted 100% in Spanish? If I were to get an interview how can I study for the Chilean ATP test?! Who can I contact at LAN? Is LAN a good place to start or am I shooting for the stars? Any help, input, or suggestions, from anyone would greatly help. Muchas Gracias.

Nightmare21

LAN
 

Please PM
Inmigrante

Good day to you,

For a point a contact, look no further... use the PPRuNe search engine., it goes a long way. I'll give you a hint: her first name starts with Tamara and her last name starts with Maldonado :}

As to whether you stand a chance of landing an interview, I guess you do :ok:. People have been hired with 250TT.

Quick look at Encyclopaedia Britannica... now, what do you think?? :E

As for the ATPL test, it is based 120% on the FAA exam. As to whether it is done in Spanish, I hope you haven't stored the Encyclopaedia Britannica just yet.

Tamara Maldonado

Yes it is, no you are not. ;)

Help, input and suggestion can be found along with the search function. As for me: Keep the blue side up.

Muchas de nada.

I'm more or less on the same boat. I applied using the online form on the LAN site and even sent all of the documents they asked me for.

I haven't heard anything back from them... Mind you I have little to no time. 220TT and a Frozen ATPL with a CPL & Multi-IFR.

Can anyone please PM Tamara's email?

[email protected]

I can't guarantee it though :O

I went ahead and emailed Tamara Maldonado and Felipe Hayden. That was a week ago and so far I haven't gotten a response. I'm going to keep updating my file with them and hope for the best

gracias

Hello Nightmare 21!!!
It depends on you age....
If you are a low time pilot as you state, try to get hired,t fly for a couple of years and then get the hell bsck to the states... they love hiring 200 hr pilots due to the fact that they will only pay you 60% of the F.O`s salaryry to start off. All you need is a Commercial P.L. with your instrument rating on it. Since you are a U.S citizen, I would strongly recommend to find you a job with a U.S carrier, I knwow... I ain`t easy but lifestyle if by far much better than in south america.
So, back to to what matters...
The Name they gave you is correct, send a resume, IN SPANISH most of the low key employees @ Lan will not want to mess with having to speak in english. Since you are also Uruguayan I assume you do good at Spanish. First, tell them you are From Uruguay, not a US guy, when it comes to hiring expats , they like uruguayans, there is about 40 of them flying here.
There are 3 companies you may fit in, LAN, Lan Express and Lan Cargo.
Considering your low TT I don`t think you would go to Cargo, they run B767Fs ans B777Fs, you will end up with Lan or Lan Express, Lan X only takes new pilots for the A320, LAN on the other hand may hire you direct
For the A320 or the B767-300ER, and you have the option once you build up seniority of flying their A340-300 plus the B787 is some time to come.
If you get hired with Lan express you are literally SCREWED!!! PERIOD.
You fly the A320, Rosters are not fun.
Hope this helped U.

I've always been curious about LAN.

Me, 5000 hours, currently DHC8, lots of command, no jet, Chilean Passport - (need to renew).

My spanish is way out of use from long absence but gets better with use after a few weeks every time we visit Santiago... then I lose it when we leave. How tolerant of second speakers is LAN?

You mention low pay for lowtimers, what's the current pay and sched like for people who have been around the block a while?

Can you work a commuter sched out of Puerto Montt or another city?

And are upgrades straight seniority? or what's the deal?

Hello Altiplano,
If you can get your spanish going that`s all the better 4 U.
There are some A320 Captains on commutter sched, it is not official though, after you have seniority you work it out with your boss plus given the A320 rosters we have it is pretty inconvenient.
As far as pay goes, since you have not jet time, you start @ 60% too.
Upgrades are predicted to take 5 years on new hires now (not bad at all for an A320), a while back used to take about 10 years.
I was hired somewhere in between, have been in the 320 for almost 3 years now and possibly I will go to the 767 as FO, if I don`t, they will upgrade me on the 320, if that happens that is cool but, they will keep me there almost forever before going to the 767, A340 or 787 since I did not fly long haul routes before, it is a "catch 22""situation.
But if you can get hired do it, and build time to go to a better place afterwards, after all that is what airlines do with pilots nowdays, they just use you.
Regards,

Thanks 320 Cursed,

60% eh, that's a kick in the nuts... interesting they would value someone with years of commuter and regional airline experience and turbine command the same as a 250 hour wonder... What do you need (experience) to get 100%? What is 100% in terms of $ value?

Dear Altiplano,
in order to swing 100% of the salary you have to spend 2 years in the company, namely:
1st year:60%
2nd. year: 75%
At the start of the 3rd one: 100% (about $4,600.00 USD in hand after taxes).
I was hired under 80% first year & 100% thereafter cause I was hired with over 3000 hrs TT, that that rule changed.
The reason: the company would recongize pilots experience and pay 80% if you had over 1000 hrs TT @ the time of hiring, but in order to do that they demanded the Pilot`s union that new 200hr hires would only get 40% to start off, then 60%,80% and 100% year after year. Thing which I find fair.... what are you talking about!!! from the C150 straight to the A320 or the 767...and these pilots complained about the 40% idea...
"Hello", those guys should be paying the Airline to let the fly under those cirmcunstances.
Union said no, and now it works the way I descrived above.
If you want to make experience that is just fine, if you need to support a family in Santiago on 60% that is tough.

If you come with jet time though you go straight to 100% salary? How many days are guys working/month on the 320? 767?

Thanks again for all the info.

I guess if you show up with an A320 B767 type rating you may be
able to negotiate better salary, but no way for 100% to start.

That`s the way I see it.
On the 767 you have like 5 flight per month, on the A320 something like 13 to 15 flight a month with 8 to 10 days off.

Guess that this is the Captain salary. A320 cursed, do you now by any chance the F/O income (in pesos after taxes) at the start of the 3rd year?


Thanks

CH777 that is FO salary!

Noted. Thanks.:ok: Believed it was much lower.

How much is that in pesos?

The full F/O salary, that is after the start of the third year, is around US$5.000, after taxes. That's around 2.3 million pesos.

AXL Kowalski...Thank you for the information provided. :ok:

how do you get 12-13 flights a month, and only 10 days off ? that does not look like my roster... I've been flying around that, 13 days a month, but i get most of the other days off, or "blanco" after a late flight the day before.. this month I fly 12 days and I have 15 days off... +2 TURNOS, and 2 days I'm "off" but out of my base... TOTAL HOURS this month 65.. i do not complain about the roster, it's like this everywhere, at some other countries is worse, and some is better, and for example flying Turboprop short distances, you do many more legs a day, and fly more days...

you are right about the salary, the 100% salary around 2.3 million pesos net which is pretty good

yeahh:ok:

Hi A320 CURSED

Would you also recommend A320 Type Rating to join LAN? Would that be somehow advantageous?

Thanks