gonzo7

if anyone works for the Air Nippon Network company and/or is contracted with them. can you please PM me.

also, how is it working there? how is the selection process and the training? how is it living in osaka? is it do-able on their allowance?

what kind of travel benefits do they have? what are the details of the contract? is it renewable, breakable, etc?

lots more questions and your help would be greatly appreciated.

bsnews

Im also very interested on this Q400 opening. It sounds like screening is sometime in March.

Does sim prep help ?? Cause I dont have EFIS experience.

oxygen on

Don't need EFIS experience. If you know how to read the informations, you will be ok. If you have Microsoft FS, take the 777. The PFD is very similar.

Stereolab

Is this the position posted at Hawaii Aviation and Parc?

Is the sim ride for the interview in a Q400? If so, I believe it's a Honeywell Primus 2000 EFIS. I plan on applying as well. It seems the flying positions in Japan are difficult to get. They seem to hire very few people. Would be nice if ANA purchased a bunch of Q400's...I hear Bombardier is practically giving them away to any airline that wants em.

If we get in, Okonomiaki and Ebisu beer is on me...OOOOOOsaka is a great city.

Gambate!!!!

jetflyger

Just finishing up the Parc/ANN paperwork and it does seem like an ok package.

Like it was asked earlier - does USD2000 pay for fairly nice living conditions on the island?


Thanks

oxygen on

Most people spend about half of their allowance for an apartement. The rest is gravy.

mjbow2

Does anyone know if they are only taking those with a -8 type on their ticket? PARC and Hawaii seem to differ a bit on who they want???

MJB

oxygen on

Not any more. They start having trouble finding DH8 rated pilots. So the requirement is now DH8 or equivalent.

smat

How much is the pay and Living, Commuting Allowance?

oxygen on

Typical ground school is one month in Tokyo for company ground school. Then about 2 months in YYZ for the sim (everybody does a full initial on the DH8 Q400, a mind blowing 16 sessions! And a lot of days of… that’s the Japanese way). After that you fly to Osaka for another medical, touch and goes and some more ground school. So after about 5 months of training, your are finally online.

As far as living there, some guys can’t stand it, some guys love it. I guess it depends on your character. If you are able to go with the flow, although the Japanese have some very weird ways of doing things, you should be ok. If you are too outspoken and think you could change things, you are in trouble.

The money is very good, even for FO’s. We are talking about 4000$ US (6000$ for Capt) monthly base salary. Plus a living allowance of 2000$ (most people spend about half of it for an apartment) and a travel allowance of 1000$. So you basically get a monthly deposit of 7000$US for an FO.

http://www.hawaiiaviation.com/
http://www.parcaviation.aero/aviatio...htcrewJobs.asp

critical.d

hey O2on,
how's the work schedule ? can it be adjusted? where do you fly to?5

smat

Thank you, Oxygen On!

bsnews

Thanks, Oxygen on.
So only equivalent prop pilots will be invited, not jet pilots?....I hope. Cause this pay will attract a lot of attention.

Have anyone been through interview?
What kind of questions I should expect? I have few clue on Japanese weird ways. Very personal questions or trivia tech questions? Hmm...

oxygen on

Pretty straight forward interview, not a lot of technical stuff, they mostly want to see if you are really interested in this job and, although it is advertised as a commuting contract, they like to hear that you will move and live in Osaka. The next step is a two day medical in JFK or LA. Then you wait… and wait… and then they tell you if you are in or not.

Schedules are either 5 weeks on (6 days a week) and 12 days off. Or 6 weeks on and 15 days off, you choose. 5 destinations and growing, all from Osaka (most frequent is Kochi). Few overnights. Average of 4 sectors per day (~1h flights).

JapJok

and you'll need a LOT of patience to suffer the way these drones do business

Kaptin M

It would be not too bad if you were living in another country.
Osaka is the 2nd most expensive city to live in, (after Tokyo) in Japan.
Apartments are very much smaller than Westerners are used to....the sort of apartment you're going to get for about USD1,000 in Osaka will be old, extremely tiny, and a likely fire hazard!
A decent house will work out at about USD3,000 per month. This is for unfurnished places.
Utilities (water, gas & electricity) during winter - for a single guy - will run to approx. USD400 - USD450 per month, for a family of say 4 (my situation) the bill comes in at around USD550.
In Summer, you can knock it back by about USD150.

Petrol is currently around USD1.10 per litre.
Internet is USD25/month.

The USD is very weak against the JPY, and has been for some time now, puting the monthly groceries shopping bill at around USD1700 for us - and that is NOT eating extravagantly.
My wife is a non-drinker, and I might have a glass of (cheap Aussie, or Chilean) wine a couple of nights a week.
Wine, in fact, isn't too badly priced.

For those of us who live in Osaka, COSTCO at Amagasaki, offers a lot of "gaijin" (and Japanese) food and other products at very reasonable prices for Japan - the only problem is portions sold are "American" size, and Japanese refrigerators aren't made to handle that!!

The actual "experience" of living in Japan full time, for a non-Japanese, is a unique experience in itself.
There'll be lots of little things you won't be told how to do, until you do it the "wrong" way....another epistle in itself.

Life is generally more stressful here - not only because of the work factor - and 1 "OFF" day per week is NOT enough.
Japanese pilots fly approx 20% less than we gaijin in JAL do, and get a MINIMUM of 10 "OFF" days per month - and they were born & raised here.
As a foreigner living here, I believe we should be given at least an equal number of days OFF.


So getting back to the $$$'s issue - on an F/O's salary don't expect to save too much at all, unless you're willing to live like a refugee.

bsnews

Many thanks for positive and negative opinions.
Interview and sim check will be straight forward. Im glad to hear that. Living over there sounds ok (and expensive). Im looking for some change anyway. A medical check probably is the last line of defense to break through. Well, first of all, I got to call Flight Safety to schedule familiarization ride.

Thanks again, guys!

gonzo7

japjok,

you have any examples? thanks..

Stereolab

Anyone know what the sim ride is in for the interview?

JapJok

yeah, just a couple of examples

It`ll take upwards of four months to get checked out, and up to 8 or nine, during which time you will

spend two weeks having air law read to you or reading it to the rest of the group;

I don`t understand this; OK Smith san, please read again

a week covering Radio Law AND Radio Technology !!! You need to know about propagation of X band waves in and through the ionosphere because in Japan it is different from elsewhere in the world

Ground School will be a welcome relief, but then you will have sim where you will NOT be able to do anything right even though you will/may have a dozen times the experience as the instructor

You will be told you`re dangerous when operating professionally

If you re teamed with a Japanese pilot, he will crash the sim and get good grades; you will operate well and be given marginal passes

then your checkout will come and you will brush with JCAb for the first time and man, are these guys morons

Most have very little/no operational experience, probably not rated on the aircraft you going to be checked on, and are dumb, dumb, and impractical

most are former instructors on bonanzas at a civil aviation college and the BIGGEST aircraft they`ve flown is a bonanza

They check on everything fromm lighties to 747s

they generally leave systems alone because they know JS about the aircraft

Their only strength is books, air law, AIM Japan, etc

you`ll be asked how many active volcanoes in Japan, and what are the names of the jetstreams even though you`ll never get up there in a turboprop

then when they condescenbd to give you a pass, you`ll be let loose with the most incompetent FOs you will ever find, ANYWHERE, even Africa

CRM??? well they pay lip service to it but not much more. I had a Jap Captain in the RHS one day with a JCAB examiner in the JS and this %$#& dill tried to override me on decisions.. He did get reamed out over it but still does it with others

Here you command and supevise and theri only concession to c
CRM is to finish each briefing with `any questions`

The cabin crew briefing before a day`s flying would do justice to a moonshot. They need to know everything from parking spot to runway in use (eight hours BEFORE takeoff)

And you will have to tolerate a thrid world bureaucracy in the company to which you are contracted JAL may be an exception here, being somewhat more progressive

you will be paid a lot less than the local pilots and work a lot harder On a skill basis you should be paid half a dozen times as much as locals

you will be leaned on by tokyo tower controllers to waive wake turbulence separation behind heavies and get a lecture airborne on how you should have

allowed to run right up the tailpipe of heavies on final when you`re already at min speed. Heavies here slow up 30 miles out and disregard procedural speeds on approach

you will be treated as a 2nd class citizen by the management and outside Tokyo or Osaka, and even in some areas of those cities, a curiosity by the locals

you will tire of being told `In Japan........(fil in whatever you want) because here in Japan, everythiing is different whether it is or not. It`s their way of saving face, or more likely saving their ass

these people can`t say yes or no; it`s maybe, sometimes, or almost. The wx is never smooth, it`s almost smoose. a simple question will ALWAYS elicit an almost, sometimes or maybe and it will drive you cr zy

the management and mechancis will lie to you to get aircraft dispatched, repeatedly

the management will despise you, but wait for it, the hosties will love you becasue they are looking for a ticket out. the men here treat them like 2nd class citizens too. so if you`re into a little poon tang, and you can tolerate all the other $#%& then come on down.

If you think you can`t then life will be hell and don`t bother

I wish I had more time to give you a bit more but maybe another time