First of all, Congratulations to Helm and bluebird...:ok:
What's the Cargolux interview process like, is it tough?
would appreciate some feed back....
Cheers

Good luck to you guys! am still in the hold pool, did the final interview early january last year. will be waiting patiently for that magical phonecall :).

cheers,

Congrats to all! :ok:

As soon as you guys are finished with line training you can immediately apply for part time in 2011! ;)

Hello there.

Saw on interpersonel.de that there are a few recruitments planned in 2010, can anyone confirm that they are all fininshed or will there be more, how many have been hired this year total including contractors?

Regards

1975

Few minutes ago I filled up my Cargolux application form via interpersonal.de. I also find some Cargolux HR contact information on other website. Would it be a good idea to send a Cover Letter and a Resume via company’s Human Resources webmail too?
Considering that this is my 1st Professional Pilot Application, I think in need some experienced guidance in this matter. Any opinions?

Thank you very much, and good luck to everyone!

Looks like 40 is still a limit at Cargolux...
 

In case, like myself, you're 40 or over (I just turned 40) it's probably not worth spending time doing the application form. Have the hours, licenses, plenty of Boeing time, etc and just received the "we're not interested" email. Three colleagues of mine with almost identical CVs were invited for selection. The difference? All late twenties.

Looks like ageism is alive and well in Luxembourg! Oh well...

P

My application has been with them for over a year, so I guess it takes them some time to process them! Got the email a couple of days ago. The three colleagues I was referring to applied about a year before I did and one passed the tests and is in the holding pool. So I don't know if the recent processing of my application is due to imminent hiring or the agency just clearing the backlog.

P

Hello,

I sent my initial application in July, contacted 3 weeks later and got invited for the selection in september. Now i've got a date for interview in a few days. Just above minimum requirements, but in late twenties and living quite close from Lux. It helped for sure.

Hello there.

Good news for you quianor, good luck. Looks like things are picking up, does anyone have any further info?

I'll keep you advised. However, if the interview turns up well, I have no idea if it's for a direct or rapid start, or if it's for a hold pool..

Hi,

I would like to know how long it currently takes to move to the left. I know it's very long, but i would like to have a more precise idea (12? 15? 20???)

Thanks

cargolux screening
 

Hello quianor!
Any news?

Based on a fleet of 16 you're looking at approx. 20 years.

@RVRRVR.....I am, as always, amazed to read from candidates who haven't even passed the entrance test yet questioning about the time to command. I must be from a different generation.......:ugh:

I dont find that fact "amazing" at all actually.
Why would you not ask about that ?!?
I would want to know everything I could about a future job. Time to command is part of the descision to go for a job, or not.
You might be willing to accept the command process and time to command, if the overall "package" is good, and suits you.
Should time to command be some closely guarded secret ?!?
All he is doing, is asking. He didn´t say that he was ready for command now already, and could not wait a day longer to get it.
Happy Landings :ok:

True! It must be the current "buy-a-type-rating-with-any-low-cost-airline-and-get-a-command-in-just-3-years" generation. :hmm:

I can understand that time to command is important to every pilot, but let's be honest, it should never be a principal reason for joining a company. The pricipal reasons should be; doing something you like, in a pleasant environment, that allows you to lead the lifestyle that best suits you.

Currently it can can indeed take a long time to command for new joiners, however as all old-timers can confirm, things can improve or deteriorate very quickly in the aviation industry.
Hypothetically speaking, if CLX goes bankrupt tomorrow then time to command goes to infinity, if there's a double dip recession time to command could increase to 40 years, yet if a major competitor goes bankrupt or CLX expands into a new market then time to command might be cut to +/- 5 years. Just pick a number and you can create a "time to command" scenario for it.

All in all, this whole "time to command" is just a snapshot in time, it's the way things are right now, so don't waste too much time on it as nobody can see 5-10-20 years into the future.

Instead, focus on more fundamental things like whether long haul freight flying is something you want to do, or do you want any job that gives you 4 stripes as soon as possible. ;)

You are very right, my friend !

There is nothing smooth on aviation. Or there is a bubbling market, and time to command is short, or you are in a deep descend whirlpool, where is almost impossible to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Who can guess the future ? No one can make such accurate predictions, so let's be rather positive. Things will be better. We shall not forget that we are living one of the worst crisis since 1929. Lucky us that we have a job in what we like to do.

My sincere congratulations to the new hires. It's fantastic to have you with us.
:ok:

Whoever joins a company WITHOUT asking for the expected time to command is a complete nutter.

Hello there.

Does anyone have any info on how many will be hired, lets say in the next six months? When are the wetlease A/C leaving again?

Regards

1975

Hi,

@LBR: Merci pour l'info

@ Pow-wow: That's exactly what I meant.

I'm looking for an airline where I could spend most of my professionnal life and I don't think that asking for time to command is irrelevant.
Thank you however to the other contributors for sharing their point of view...

Enjoy your flights on the B748!

Hi, are you referring to Peyronie's disease?

Ha-haa...

what a cracker...!:D

ss

To all you Cargolux Guys...
 

Well, it's funny. The more you read this blog, the more it becomes true that there is no such thing as a perfect Job or a perfect marriage. It is you that make it work and always find the best compromise.
I have been flying for 10 years, started off as a B727 F/O in Latin America, then became a 737 F/O and a "Bus" driver on the 320. I am now a Captain on the 320 in the Asia/Pacific region. My career has taken me to fly all over the American Continent, Asia, Middle-East and Australasia.

And I would give up everything to become a Cargolux F/O.

Every airport you go to, you see a Cargolux airplane, whether in Bogota, Mexico City, Singapore, New York, Hong Kong. And for those of us who are still in love with our profession, despite all its shortfalls and frustrations, it means a lot to be able to fly the best aircraft to all over the place. I personally did not become a pilot so I could see my wife and kids every day, but like I said it is a very personal belief. I like flying, and for those of us who love it, bigger, faster and newer says it all...

My sincere admiration to all those Cargolux drivers. You are "sky's" finest. Every day I go to work, I tell myself..."If I could only join Cargolux..."

You are so rigth! :DAnd it's people like you, that we need in our company!

Ummm...Flyer 287....I think you are the sky's finest a million times more...no wait....infinity times more... than Clipermaro thinks you are the sky's finest!

Hi Clippermaro,
even though you are over qualified, if it so much your wish to join,
what keeps you from it? As Flyer said, it is guys like you we need!
Is there a licence problem? We have seen a lot beeing possible in
CV if the right, and the wrong, people apply. Give it a try for your
and for our sake if it is what you want.
All the best and take care
16

Uncle Wiggily,
From where did you get this Hons degree in Compulsive Sarcasmology? Looking at your performance all over pprune, it looks like you managed a brillant score. Like hell, I'll be terribly dissapointed if you tell me you missed a GPA of 4.0. Come on! don't get dishearted, you could always do better next time.
I am sorry at the moment there is no vacancy available anywhere for the post of Chief Sarcasmologist or I would have whole heartedly recommended your name.

@clippermaro......

Does daddy know you used his computer......

Hawkeye red

What do you mean my "daddy's computer"? Is that a joke? Haha, pretty bad one, I mean, I ain't laughing...Or is it just me? I wish I could sense your humor but...kinda hard, not gonna lie...

I also hold a Master Of Science in Aviation Management, if you really wanna know and was a Safety and QA Officer (not Manager) for some time in a middle-sized airline. But I'm not gonna lay down my CV, probably not the right forum to do so anyway...

Well, I do not have the right to work and live in Europe for a start...

Good luck to you all! Enjoy that flying. Like Singapore Airlines TV Advert says: "The romance of flying still lives on"...at least in a few guys here and there, like myself...

clippermaro,

Obviously you don't know Cargolux...yes, flying the 747 all over the world is great, but a poor managment and very poor rostering department can make your life miserable...

It is a good job, no doubt, but stop the propaganda, it is also very demanding on your family and your health.

Cheers

Good morning guys,

I received an invitation for the assesment at Saarlouis, so I took the time to read this thread very carefully. It is a wonderful thread with a lot of information concerning Cargolux.
Since a long time dreamt to work for that Company, finally when I read this thread there is not really doubt about this, but a few more questions to ask.
I hope I will get some answers.

I received some shedules, I know what to expect when working for Cargolux. Normally I will live "at home", which is about 200 km away from LUX. Along this thread I read things like "they will have an eye on you and whether you will move close to Luxembourg or not". It seems to be very important for the company to have the employees around them.
I think with 200 km I don´t have the longest way to go, but for sure it is not possible to reach LUX in 1 hour.
Now the question: I don´t understand for what it is important to reach LUX in 60 (90?) minutes? People before told us that you don´t have much standby-duties, if you are on tour you are far away from LUX and they won´t call you at the OFF-days. But at which point is it important to be at your base in 1 hours, when do they call you? Ahead of your trips to come 2 hours earlier? On you Floating OFF-days? And do they have after a longer time really a look for your living-place?

Second question is about my worries of the economic situation. I read some bad details along this thread, it was around 2008/2009. Cargolux wasn´t the only company with problems due to the financial crisis. But what´s today? Economy around the world seems to be rising, what about Cargolux? What I am interested in: For sure there is no guarantee, but at the moment I´m in a job - not the best one, but I have one - and if I do the decision for Cargolux, is the possibility really big that, after one year, they tell me to leave Cargolux because of the bad economic situation? Or does the company better again?

These are my two questions, very important for me, I would be glad about some answers. Thanks a lot!


Tophat320

rosters...
 

hi guys,
anybody able to discuss or upload a typical roster....
gazman21

Hi guys,

I was invited to Saarlouis to do the Assesment the week before.
I read this thread very carefully and it´s great to get such a lot information about working or living with Cargolux. Thanks a lot for this to all posters in the past.

Nevertheless, I got some questions concerning this company.

One wrote along this thread, that Cargolux will now "take an eye on the living place of the employees". They should live around their base. I´m living about 200 km away from LUX. I know I haven´t the longest way, but at all I can´t reach Luxembourg within 60 (90) minutes. And I think that isn´t enough for Cargolux.
But I also read that you won´t have a lot of standby-duties, they don´t call you in your off-days and if you are on a tour you are far away from home and LUX.
But at which point this one hour upon call-out is relevant. Do they call the pilots ahead of a sheduled flight to come earlier? Or can they call you on your floating off-days to come?
With this "new" procedure to place pilots around LUX, is it possible to commute?

Second question is about the economical situation. Around 2008/09 in this thread the news about Cargolux weren´t good. For sure due to the financial crisis there were other companies with bigger problems also, but what about today? I have a job, not the best one, but I have one. I know there never could be a guarantee, but if I decide to change to Cargolux, is there a big possibility that they send me home after one year? Or is the crisis over at Cargolux and the future looks more friendly now? Is there an outlook?

And I heard about a union which tries to make the pilots life "more easy". What do you expect of the contracts in the future, is there a tendency that the time you are away from home for 8, 10 or 15 days will be shorter in the future?

I would be happy if anyone can answer this questions to me, thanks a lot!


Tophat320

200 km is ok!
 

Hi Tophat320,

no worries, 200 km from LUX is good enough. Anyway, after your first year you
will get yourself a Porsche anyway unless you need all that money on a nasty divorce :}
:) :) :)

Haha, stbys are rare, and you will find it ok to commute for 200ks. Callout on Stbys is anyway 2h, just the normal duty call is 1h before check-in, so you won't be able to sleep at home until wake up call, unless you use that Porsche!

Economy seems to be ok, of course nobody can predict the future, but for now it looks more than good, so maybe see you on board soon.

Good luck then and I am sure you will enjoy the big bird!

WOB

I don´t understand what the wake-up call means. If there is a flight already published in my roster they call me one hour ahead of check-in? Or can they call me anytime and tell me to fly now? Or do you mean they call me while I´m already on the way to LUX. So that isn´t a problem, but if they call me anytime and say "hey, be here in one hour" would be a problem.

It´s good to hear that you think I can buy a Porsche after one year with Cargolux, that means paying is fine.

But first of all I have to do the Assesment and the interview and then make a decision for or against Cargolux. At the moment the job is incredibly stressfull, but I had only 15 overnights and 80 duty days within this year. But never, this is the advantage, more than 3, sometimes 4 days off in a row. That means for the most time late check-out, off, early check-in. So maybe it would be better to be 8 days away and then 7 days at home.

What is the outlook for the future about the length of the various trips?


Tophat320

What I don´t understand is what that wake-up-call means. They call you ahead of one of your flights which are already sheduled in my roster? Or do they call me anytime and tell me "be here in one hour"?

And what about the length of the trips, is there an outlook wheter they will get shorter in the future?

Wake up call means that out of homebase (LUX) you get a call one hour before check in. The reason is that although you have a schedule the flight might be delayed, so in order to give the crews a chance for maximum rest, you get the call. (Works fine if you live within 30min. of LUX, otherwise people have to work out their own wake up).
Downroad you get a wake up call one hour before pick up in the hotel, same reason as above!

Trips run between 2 days to 16 days. Average 7-8 days. People's preference varies, commuters like long trips in order to not be at homebase for few off days, but not as a rule. Some long trips touch nice destinations while shorty's might be boring, anyway, looking into the bidding system is always a thrill seeing all the destinations and picking your preferred ones then.

One thing though: You might be gone for some time down the road, so if you need to see your family every other day, stay away from the job, you won't like it! Otherwise best job that is around (Imho)

WOB

I know about the long trips, I had about 15 overnights along this year - that´s not much. But I haven´t seen my wife for more than 7 days cause of late arrival and early depature. It´s different at Cargolux, but a think the overall package isn´t bad!

Part-time?
 

Hi guys.

Do you CV guys have the chance to fly part-time???

I think its a hard business to fly longrange flights only; especially if you are in a age near retirement.

In my current company a lot of F/Os even fly part time

to enhance their lifes.

Best:cool: