Air Hong Kong, the A300-600 cargo outfit
 

Does anyone have interview experience with this airline?
Does one fly on a validation or will you need a chinese license?
And do they make you do a china medical or is the FAA medical valid?

Any tech q's and anything else that might be useful to get a guy through their hiring process will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and all the best to all

I don't work for them, but this is what you can expect:

Hong Kong Licence (Issued by the HKCAD)
Hong Kong Medical (similar to FAA class 1)

Anything else?

Captains USD5000 a month, and a training bond.
Singapore based.
No housing assistance
No Insurance
No allowances
No travel benefits

But hey, it's BIG IRON, EFIS, the "Big Time", yeehaaa!! Hurry on up!! Denigrate your profession here!!

Undies

Trust that c...t GO didn't try and entice you there as well all those years ago:yuk:

No, I'm in CX, but GO DID try and entice a few mates.

Disgraceful that after all his golden years in CX, the best of everything for such a long time and still he was so deluded and filled with grandiose visions that he became their front man...

The Question , is Audrey " still putting the lotion on "

air hong kong
 

thanks undies...so not the best of conditions then eh.

but hey I can go fly a caravan in india or see if I can get on the BIG IRON for a year or so and then take it from there. I'm a zero hours on jets guy and heavy cargo is what I want to do.

HKCAD is that the same as a Chinese license or is there still a difference. I hear the Chinese medical is a bitch to get through... Is the HKCAD just as hard?

Anyone with interview experience or anything else that might be useful to get a guy through the Air Hong Kong hiring process will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again

updates:
-No proper medical
-no food on second sector; only crackers and sodas
-no proper uniform

-NO UNION

Training bond is 90,000 USD for pilots with no jet experience.

Panties, they increased salary (80% pilots already left),it is 10,000 USD (including perdiem) based on 50 hrs. for Captains,now.

Now you know why profit in CX is 70% up!

Rgds..

might wanna make that 3 years or so.... due to ridiculous bond ( which is legal in Singapore BTW )

ok then 3 years...but do you have any info on how to get in?

I appreciate all the feed back I have gotten so far, but none of it has been real useful unfortunately.

I realise that most of you guys possibly have a bunch of jet time and can be a bit more picky about where to go, but the heaviest I have flown is a single engine turbo prop with 5000 twin time in pistons.

So when a company like AHK invites me to come for an interview (where most others don't even contact me because they require at least 500 hrs on jet) I ofcorse jump to the oportunity to finally get some jet time...whether the conditions are only so so or better somewhere else is a lesser concern for me right now...ok 3 years with the devil is a long time, but never getting your foot in the door is a drag too...

anyway thanks again to all of you

here is what I need:
1. how tough is the medical if any?
2. how tough is the selection process, if any...lol?

Medical is not that big a deal.


Interview is personal chat and a sim.

Knowledge of your own aircraft, common sense and being a likable person are
required.

I don't work there..but several friends from HKA have interviewed there recently and 2 of our previous Mgrs (both some of the best guys in the biz) are there now.

Good Luck - But know you WILL be there for 3 years as the bond is binding.

thanks AAIGUY... is there anyone actually working for Air Hong Kong and wants to PM me instead

has anyone recently gone through the interview...can you share details?

Don't worry about the interview, , they need people who are blinded by the shinyness of the big iron, come join the fun, when the shine wears off you'll have some market skills that are in demand elsewhere, just expect to be pissed off for the duration of the bond (4 yrs) .If you can keep a smiley face for the best part of it , you'll fit right in.
S2

Add me to the list too, sounds interesting, would like to hear more...

capt real requirements?

Looks like a good place for singles to build up some Widebody PIC time and then fly for a real job.

I see they are 60% owned by CX. Are they similar to CX in any way, good o rbad?

Anybody interested in applying for AHK, go to www.airhongkong.com.hk or send your resume to [email protected]. AHK is owned by Cathaty Pacific 60% and DHL 40% but the pay and benifits is very far from what Cathay Pacific is offering. The advantages for working for AHK are work schedules(commuting) 8-10 days work and 6-8 days off, flying only 45 to 60 hors per month without long haul flights, relaxed environment (small tight knit airline) and flying wide body aircraft. Captain's salary is about US$9500/month flying 45 hours including REI but if you fly above 45 hours, you get US$100/hour. First officers salary is about US$ 7000/month flying 45 hours and US$70/per above 45 hours. Base options are Singapore, Penang and Hong kong but no housing allowance, no education allowance, no travel allowance but ID90 tickets thru Cathay Pacific (impossible to get in and ID90 still expensive), limited medical benifits, no loss of license but only loss of income coverage and you have to pay tax. (SIN about 10% and HKG/PEN is about 15%) AHK now came up with a gratuity scheme, US$20,000 for Captains and US$15,000 for First Officers for the first 4 years and subject to board approval another gratuity pay on the 5th year, 6th year and so on. Mutual fund or CPF is also offered for the pilots but company contribution is only limted to around US$200-300/month. Overall AHK is a good company to work for if your prioritiy is a commuting job with a decent pay to the amount of work you're doing. The benefits are not that good compared to Cathay but if you want to get jet or wide body experience, salary is acceptable to your standards and can stay until your bond is manageable to pay and move on to another airline then AHK is the best option for those without jet experience. Off course im not saying its a perfect airline and AHK needs to address some issues but generally my experience working for AHK is very pleasant and enjoyable. Hope I relayed useful information to those interested in joining Air Hongkong.

Yesterday in Herald Tribune:
FedEx widebody Captain annual salary: 240,000us$
First Officer widebody: 160,000us$

It looks like AHK pay is about 50% compare to FedEx!

Is there any possibility for a graduate like me with just a CPL/IR with Frozen ATPL and only 200 hours on Single and Multi Engine piston engine aircraft to get a job there??

Yes..! You may want to try HKA/HKE provided you have the right skin. :ok:

F/O benefits
 

Air36: Every other post confirm a first salary of around $4000 US/month and no base in HK. Has this changed recently?

How does ID90 ticket work?

Thanks

There are bases avail in SIN/PEN/HKG (HKG after employed for 6 months I think).

Salaries take home before tax on average recently FO US$7000-US$8000. Capt US$10000-US$11000.

Fairly Basic Medical, Pension fund US$5000 per year, Basic Income Protection.

Gratuity Payment US$20k (Capt) after 4 years and possibly year 5 and year 6 also.

ID90 travel on CX / KA but so low priority its not worth anything.

Rostering is getting better with 8 days on 6 days off becoming the norm at last with 45-55 hours flying per month.

Overall the package is improving slowly it is getting there but not industry standard for HKG by any means.......

dekka007,

Not sure where you got those figures but I got a call for an interview later this month and the paperwork that came with the email shows a basic salary of US$46k/year + a Core Flying Payment of around US$1440/month, for 45 hours of flying as an FO.

Either way, I'm earning about US$30k more as a CRJ Captain in the US. There's no way I'd consider this unless unless a realistic housing payment was included and a lot more basic $$.

It's a bit of a joke really and anyone prepared to work for such a ridiculous salary should take a long hard look in the mirror!

The figures I quoted are correct as of the current terms and conditions at AHK June 2008. Trust me :)

Ontop of the above figures you were quoted is REI of $91 per day.

Looking at the monthly average for a roster over the last 6 months it has been around 55 hours per month. Bearing in mind that anything above 45 hours the rate increases by double if I recall per hour.

I agree housing should be added to the AHK package ASAP and the salary is crap compared to KA/CX in HKG. The days off are the major draw with this outfit and allow a commuting roster anywhere in Asia/Oz easily.

If you are getting US$14k per month as a CRJ Captain in the US then stick with that obviously....

The tax is 10%-11% for the SIN base btw.

Apart from the housing, this seems like a great opportunity.

Airlines are restructuring pretty much everywhere and hiring will be slow for a while.

$7000 to start as an FO is not a bad salary,

They do have ID90, but I do am not sure about priority. They say it should be no problem commuting with CX/KA.

No base in HK for now.

"Sorry that was an interview now you work for us"

Don't believe all the spin, Cx will tell you anything they can to suck you in.

good one!! I hope you like 10+ hrs in Y class. We have a lot of trouble getting J class most of the time.

Thank you ACMS. I do agree with you not to beleive it all.

For some of us with ****ty jobs in the US, this sounds pretty good.

Though , it is a bit worrying at times reading all these posts.

Kennydekka007,

Not sure where you got those figures but I got a call for an interview later this month and the paperwork that came with the email shows a basic salary of US$46k/year + a Core Flying Payment of around US$1440/month, for 45 hours of flying as an FO.

Either way, I'm earning about US$30k more as a CRJ Captain in the US. There's no way I'd consider this unless unless a realistic housing payment was included and a lot more basic $$.

It's a bit of a joke really and anyone prepared to work for such a ridiculous salary should take a long hard look in the mirror!




That's funny! What did you start out at when you began flying the RJ? A bit hypocritical, are we?

Well since you ask ACT, I started out at what was at the time, the best starting pay at any regional in the US at around 35K all in for my first year. That was 5 years ago.

So considering AHK are offering $46/year for an A300 job, my comment still stands.

You're probably ex-Mesa after a comment like that...........

Kenny,

I believe you meant 35k for your Second year, I am an ex Coex made 22k on my first year. And yes, it was around 5 years ago.

Actually, I meant 33K at ZW. Amazing how a good contract and work rules make a difference.

But that's not the point; this a job that's not a first airline job and requires a certain level of experience. Namely a few thousand hours of turbine experience and as such you should be properly compensated.

So your saying that you get 33K more per year than a AHK Captain flying a CRJ Kenny.

So a AHK Captain gets say US$130K per year give or take 1K. You are getting US$163k per year which works out at US$14K per month right before tax..so your earning US$3K more before tax.

I am pretty sure that by the time you pay your income tax and likewise at AHK the salaries will be similar. Bearing in mind this is a year 1 salary when you join AHK not after 2 or 3 years.

Secondly are you getting 12-13 days off a month minimum? Its more of a life style job at AHK - I have done the CRJ type flying in europe for a long long time and no way would i go back to 4 sector days 5 days a week...keep the extra 3k :)

You must have the best CRJ job in the world even europe a CRJ Skipper is about just over half your salary mate.

I am not saying AHK is a great job but it serves its purpose of easy flying, blocks of days off a month to allow to commute anywhere in asia, oz.. and the money for most is pretty decent for most compared to where they come from.

You make your choices I guess but AHK does have its advantages for lifestyle over Huge salary. I would love another 2k-3k on the AHK Salary per month as would anyone and MANY MANY things need improved in AHK which are starting to happen slowly (Thank God) however it's also nice having DHL and CX backing for job security at these times right now.

Please also note have a look at Korean Airlines Captain Salary, ANA, SIA Cargo on widebody jets works out about not that much more than your salary a month I believe.

money is not bad if you compare it with lifestyle.

Some housing plus more extra benefits (a better provident fund, etc) should do the trick.

No Dekka, that's NOT what I said. If you read my post, you'll see I only quoted the figures for AHK FO's and compared it to what I was earning at the moment.

My quality of life is actually the best it's been since I started flying; 15-16 days off and I live 7 minutes from work.

Next time you want get all sanctimonious and sarcarstic, you might want to read the post you're replying to. You won't look as much of a d!ckhead........


Look, it's really simple; Every time one of us extremely smart pilots accepts a job that has lower T+C's than it should, in comparison to others or even historically, we screw ourselves in the future. Why offer decent money for that 777 job when the guys you'e looking at came from an A300 and earnt at lot less. It's happened here in the US and it's likely to infect the rest of the world, unfortunately.

This isn't even about getting rich. Anyone who thinks you can still do that in this industry is living in La-La land. This about being treated like the professionals, we used to consider ourselves. Somewhere over the last 10 years, we forgot that!

You don't seem to underststand tho FO Salary is not just 46k/year it works out at around 85k/year but then again whats the point of even discussing anything with people like you - I give up...

as long as your happy mate thats the main thing.

I tell you what tho I am glad you are not coming to AHK. as I am sure the other good guys who work at AHK would agree.

You come across as being a complete nasty tw*t.

Stay where you currently work and do the rest of the world a favour.... :)

Dekka,

I do realise that English is not your first language so I'll excuse the fact that you interpreted anything I've said in my previous posts as either nasty or worthy of being called a tw@t. (It was tw@t and not twit, I take it?)

However, any numbers I've refered to regarding the salary at AHK come directly from the email they sent me. Now you're telling me that you can make an extra $40,000 over the basic salary? And still have the quality of life that you've said make up for the low basic?

Come on, that sounds incredible to say the least and would put the AHK guys on a par with EK, KA and almost CX.

What makes me laugh is that you've been so defensive about all of this, the phrase "the lady doth protest too much" springs to mind.

Kenny,

No, I'm not Mesa, or for that matter any regional. I didn't go that route because of what you supposingly claim-I didn't take a shine jet because of that insultingly low pay.
And I don't believe for one second that there ever was a regional starting you out at 35000 in the first year. Yeah, right; maybe, and even then I don't know, if you worked every extra day that you legally could. But where's the life in that.
I'm glad I didn't get to taste regional life.

On the AHK issue, I won't get in on that, because I don't know.

ACT,

Fair enough. But yes I did work my arse off my first year. My choice and it was pretty tough. If you're lucky enough to work for a carrier that has Trip and Duty rigs, full cx/wx pay, block or better on a leg by leg basis, 1.5 for open time and not have to sit reserve, you'll end up getting paid for a lot more than the hours that go in your logbook. When I started at ZW, other than Horizon, I'm pretty sure we had the best new hire pay.

Short of posting my W2, I'm not sure what more to say.

Kenny,

Last post on here because you are starting to irritate me.

English is my first language and it was **** not twit - :)

In this thread all I have simply stated is the facts with regard to AHK salary and they are FACTS. I am not defensive about it I am just tired of stating facts when people who know nothing about the airline comment.

Good luck with your flying career.