Eastern Airways
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Re: Eastern Airways Scam
Originally Posted by silverknapper
My point is duir that if you don't like it don't apply. But don't then come on here moaning about it.
Scroggs
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Re: Eastern Airways Scam
SK,
Agreed.
No, it isn't the end of the world, I agree. But, if Eastern are seen to be getting away with it then more and more TP airlines will follow suit. It will then be seen as another ncecesary expense to be borne by wannabes and, as I inferred in my previous post, it's then only a short step to charging for reading CV's, being interviewed, etc. 
Unfair? Possibly, but Eastern may pay for everything else at the moment. If the applications still roll in, will they continue to do so?
I don't think anything justifies charging for the recruitment process whether they do look at minimum houred pilots or not. It should be a cost of doing business and will be, if people don't apply.
BB
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I have doubts about the morality of a commercial school doing the assessment and potentially misleading students about employment prospects.
Paying £170 for a sim check is not the end of the world.
Drawing comparisons with Ryan is very unfair- Eastern pay everything else for you
It would be easy for them to ignore min hours guys totally and recruit people with at least a few hundred hours. The fact they will take a chance on you surely justifies letting them assess you without being penalised financially?
BB
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Re: Eastern Airways Scam
It'll be interesting to see what the "ground school" involves. Will you turn up to find 50 "candidates" for 20 jobs? The idea of having to cope with any normal ground school is daunting enough. Having to not only meet a certain standard but beat off the opposition as well sounds unbearable.
Perhaps someone at Eastern Airway has been watching too many reality TV shows. Maybe, it'll be like Big Brother and you'll have to pretend that you're a cat if you want to impress them!
Perhaps someone at Eastern Airway has been watching too many reality TV shows. Maybe, it'll be like Big Brother and you'll have to pretend that you're a cat if you want to impress them!
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Re: Eastern Airways Scam
I find their charging policy to potential wannabees off putting and a shame. Last year a ticket from Southampton to Newcastle cost my friend £325 and the plane was almost full! So why these interview and groundschool costs with these ticket prices. That must be one of the most expensive business class tickets money can buy. You can get to JFK on a 777 for the same money these days; But Southampton-Newcastle!
By way of comparison, my interview day with a European carrier consisted of a group exercise, 3 on 1 interview lasting 1 hour, then a few days later a 1 hour sim check on Cranebank's 737..
The cost? Well the car park at Gatwick cost me £8 for the day and roughly £4 for fuel. Lunch was provided free. Then later on the carpark at Cranebank was free with about £4 spent again on petrol.
A total cost of £15.
As a result, you naturally feel respected and genuinely wanted as a member of staff. And you are.
To be in a job where I had to fund my own interview, groundschool and TR, well, you know exactly where you stand and how management thinks of you from day 1. You can usually tell a company's ethics from its recruitment policy. Remember; First Impressions Count.
Deep down you're flying but at what cost to your dignity and T's and C's.
By way of comparison, my interview day with a European carrier consisted of a group exercise, 3 on 1 interview lasting 1 hour, then a few days later a 1 hour sim check on Cranebank's 737..
The cost? Well the car park at Gatwick cost me £8 for the day and roughly £4 for fuel. Lunch was provided free. Then later on the carpark at Cranebank was free with about £4 spent again on petrol.
A total cost of £15.
As a result, you naturally feel respected and genuinely wanted as a member of staff. And you are.
To be in a job where I had to fund my own interview, groundschool and TR, well, you know exactly where you stand and how management thinks of you from day 1. You can usually tell a company's ethics from its recruitment policy. Remember; First Impressions Count.
Deep down you're flying but at what cost to your dignity and T's and C's.
Last edited by Craggenmore; 15th Jan 2006 at 08:02.
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Re: Eastern Airways Scam
Try the Rockhopper scam: they're facing a minor revolution because they're trying to bond Islander pilots to the tune of £6,000 for doing what they're already hired to do i.e. fly. At least the guys who get trained on the Jetstreams get something for their bond but 6K just to prevent people from leaving is insulting. Several have quite rightly refused to sign and are now leaving. A company that has enough money to buy 3 aircraft saying it can't pay people properly is silly. The way you keep people is to make them happy to be there. If it's seen as a revolving door you have a lot of work to.
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Re: Eastern Airways Scam
Ive been at Eastern for about 2 years now. The training and standards are high, with a genuine effort to constantly improve further.
As for a SCAM, the company is offering first timers the chance to operate an EFIS tprop in a professional MONEY MAKING outfit! After 500hrs on the J41 most jet operators will give you a serious look, as the number of pilots moving from Estern to BMIbaby, GB, First Choice, Thomson Fly,CityEXP, Easy and Jet2 can testify.
The main problem is that Eastern is still fairly new, and is trying to find the right conditions/terms of recruitment that suit its needs and the market place.This leads to variations in "offers" depending on your experience and background, which in turn leads to silly rumours of SCAMS on sites like this.
As for a SCAM, the company is offering first timers the chance to operate an EFIS tprop in a professional MONEY MAKING outfit! After 500hrs on the J41 most jet operators will give you a serious look, as the number of pilots moving from Estern to BMIbaby, GB, First Choice, Thomson Fly,CityEXP, Easy and Jet2 can testify.
The main problem is that Eastern is still fairly new, and is trying to find the right conditions/terms of recruitment that suit its needs and the market place.This leads to variations in "offers" depending on your experience and background, which in turn leads to silly rumours of SCAMS on sites like this.
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Re: Eastern Airways Scam
Picture the scene
Pay for your FATPL
Pay for your sim ride
Payfree for three weeks of ground school
Pay for your type rating
Pay free working for 3 years (ok just threw that in to see if the rich would notice)
Limited pension
but what a great opportunity to gain experience so you can go somewhere and fly jets, Ryanair perhaps, where you
Pay for your sim ride
Pay for your type rating
work for 6 months line training for £9000
1/2 pay for 6 months than full pay
then your company changes type so you
Pay for your conversion
etc etc etc etc etc etc
ok a little of the above was made up , unfortunately not much, but where does it stop?
Perhaps when everybody and there rich dog stops bending over backwards and paying for everything they are told to pay for, or perhaps when the figures don't add up anymore. I must admit it seems to be getting pretty close by now.
I'm off to find me a rich dog (all puns intended)
Pay for your FATPL
Pay for your sim ride
Payfree for three weeks of ground school
Pay for your type rating
Pay free working for 3 years (ok just threw that in to see if the rich would notice)
Limited pension
but what a great opportunity to gain experience so you can go somewhere and fly jets, Ryanair perhaps, where you
Pay for your sim ride
Pay for your type rating
work for 6 months line training for £9000
1/2 pay for 6 months than full pay
then your company changes type so you
Pay for your conversion
etc etc etc etc etc etc
ok a little of the above was made up , unfortunately not much, but where does it stop?
Perhaps when everybody and there rich dog stops bending over backwards and paying for everything they are told to pay for, or perhaps when the figures don't add up anymore. I must admit it seems to be getting pretty close by now.
I'm off to find me a rich dog (all puns intended)
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Re: Eastern Airways Scam
It looks like a very good deal to me,actually every company that charges for type rating but guarantees a job is a good deal.
I dont believe anyone owes me a job just because i have a frozen atpl,why would a company choose me with no time of type and pay to train me when they have a choice of getting others with a lot more experience and time on type,it wouldnt make sense.
I dont believe anyone owes me a job just because i have a frozen atpl,why would a company choose me with no time of type and pay to train me when they have a choice of getting others with a lot more experience and time on type,it wouldnt make sense.
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Re: Eastern Airways Scam
In the very beginning, Eastern was a lot of fun. Then it became bigger, imported some different management and became somewhat less fun.
Nonetheless, where in England can a low time pilot even begin to find a job which allows him to fly reasonably sophisticated aeroplanes for hire and reward and with a degree of choice of bases as well?!
It's a good enough company and well worth a little trouble and effort to join. They know at Humberside that the airline is a stepping stone and not a career airline. You start there, go around the houses, and perhaps end there. I think all this whining is really rather shameful and continues to carry the flag for those who regard pilots as a whingeing self - aggrandising bunch of people neither satisfied with their individual lot nor possessing the collective gumption to band together to do something about it.
Now these thoughts might make me somewhat unpopular but then again, the employment policy at Eastern would seem to be affording work to pilots whilst allowing the company to expand, even to the extent of placing humourous advertisements in The Spectator, thereby creating the opportunity for yet more pilot placings.
So on that cheery note: Toodle Pip!
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Nicely put as always CC.
I'm not condoning it. But everyone whining about it should remember that they are lucky an airline will even look at low hours guys. Go to places like SA, Oz, NZ etc and try get a job on an airline with less than 5000 hours.
Eastern didn't used to do sim assessments, but have been burnt in the past by low houred guys. Just cos you have a CPL/IR doesn't entitle you to a job, or mean you will adjust to an airline operation well.
I'm not condoning it. But everyone whining about it should remember that they are lucky an airline will even look at low hours guys. Go to places like SA, Oz, NZ etc and try get a job on an airline with less than 5000 hours.
Eastern didn't used to do sim assessments, but have been burnt in the past by low houred guys. Just cos you have a CPL/IR doesn't entitle you to a job, or mean you will adjust to an airline operation well.
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...We are back to the same old problem, and frankly, I totally agree with some of the posts here saying that you should not pay for your interview and attend 3 weeks of groundschool unpaid without being sure of being taken on, of having a job. Day 1 of groundschool should be day 1 of employment and pay. Full stop. If they have doubts about your worth as a pilot, they should review their recruiting and interview methods. Their problems!
This is pure madness, this makes me sick!!! They surely can't expect you to drop everything (a job, etc...) for a job that you still do not have!!! Nobody owes me a job, sure, but we, as pilots, must make sure that our T&C's are not going down the tube.
I know for a fact, that, at the end of the day, there will always be people who accept lower and lower T&C's and prostitute themselves, and, let me tell you, SHAME on them!!!
FNav
This is pure madness, this makes me sick!!! They surely can't expect you to drop everything (a job, etc...) for a job that you still do not have!!! Nobody owes me a job, sure, but we, as pilots, must make sure that our T&C's are not going down the tube.
I know for a fact, that, at the end of the day, there will always be people who accept lower and lower T&C's and prostitute themselves, and, let me tell you, SHAME on them!!!
FNav
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Anyone who can at short notice attend a three week technical course which, whilst being free and unbonded is unpaid has two advantages over some of his peers. It might be reasonable to suppose that he is a trifle flush and, more importantly, available immediately or, in the vernacular, unemployed.
In the run up to the spring hiring season I should have thought that any small company would prefer unencumbered and enthusiastic candidates rather than those who are already in employment and whose commitment to come on board the Eastern Jetstream might be in greater doubt than those who have literally little to loose.
So, whilst not specifically condoning the policies of Eastern; I can quite understand the rationale behind their recruitment programme. I agree that the sum of £15k is absurd for a primitive little machine such as a J41 or even the half glass Saab 2000, but that's a figure driven by market forces, an encumbrance which afflicts even university undergraduates - there is perhaps a parellel between an ATPL and an MA if one might express the former in terms of an academic degree?
I do wonder, with a rather jaundiced eye, how many out there would willingly undertake a three week unpaid conversion course on, say a 737/300 or perhaps an A320, were they to believe that such devotion to the pursuit of knowledge would well equip them in the eyes of an interview panel at Ryan, Easy or whomever? I would hazard a guess that most employed pilots seeking to further their careers by such means would jump at such an opportunity, even to the extent of using their leave for such a purpose. I cannot say that I see too much abhorrent in a company offering the same sort of opportunity to pilots who are, by my original conjecture, likely to be unemployed, available and perhaps even a trifle desperate.
From a company point of view it seems to me to be an excellent recruitment policy and one which does afford instant advantage to those on the hiring ladder who might perchance be the most disadvantaged of the lot. (I could get cynical on that point, but I might just leave matters for another post.)
On this day upon which the present UK government's guide to prostitution is outlined I think it germane to point out that even these lovely ladies have associations and quasi-unions. Perhaps some appropriate flyer out there could start up a representative body to further their own ends. Some title along the lines of: 'Association of Aspiring Aviators' might be appropriate, dedicated to the interests of fledgling flyers. It is high time, I think, that BALPA had a stable mate dedicated specifically to those pilots who fall outside of the scope of that slightly storm tossed institution.
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I beg to differ...
I know three guys currently at Eastern, all of whom joined in the last twelve-ish months.
All of them were employed as flying instructors before they got into Eastern. All of them would have jumped at the chance to join Eastern (and indeed did). And yet, none of them would have been able to take three weeks leave at short notice from an employer that they'd all been with for less than a year.
And while I'm making an assumption here based on the character of the three, I'm fairly sure none of them would have risked giving up their FI jobs for the chance to maybe get a job with Eastern after three weeks of unpaid groundschool. Time will surely answer fair weather flier's question; will there be the same number of candidates as jobs? Or will Eastern have assumed a certain chop rate per entry?
CC, are you sure this is an 'ideal' recruitment strategy for Eastern? Hiring the desperate and jobless lowest-hours pilots? Let's all be totally honest and totally frank here, most people both in and coming into the industry have met plots who are, sadly, commercially unemployable due personality/etc. We've all come across a gimp or two whom despite having the funds to get their ATPL really have no business doing so. There are some low-houred guys out there who don't have jobs (a.k.a 'immediately available') for a reason...
Fully concur with Duir - this kind of recruitment strategy will appeal most to the 'DBI's', who sit at home with their arse in their hands waiting for that first job to fall into their outstretched palms. As opposed to the guys and gals who have to get a job (sometimes any job, not necessarily flying) to pay the bills and feed the kids while they look.
Finally, to the chap who suggested this new policy was to weed out the undesirables before it was too late for Eastern to change their minds; what a load of bolleux, to quote the French. Are you planning to spend the rest of your career at Eastern? You must be, given that there are plenty of airlines who fly much nicer kit to much nicer places who don't make candidates go unpaid during training.
Bugger me, those airlines must all be chock full of w
kers... (otherwise known as: 'how do these airlines get their selection processes to weed out numpties while Eastern can't?' - if you buy the Eastern spin, that is...)
Nope, this is a penny pinching measure if ever I saw one. Scroggs was spot on.
All of them were employed as flying instructors before they got into Eastern. All of them would have jumped at the chance to join Eastern (and indeed did). And yet, none of them would have been able to take three weeks leave at short notice from an employer that they'd all been with for less than a year.
And while I'm making an assumption here based on the character of the three, I'm fairly sure none of them would have risked giving up their FI jobs for the chance to maybe get a job with Eastern after three weeks of unpaid groundschool. Time will surely answer fair weather flier's question; will there be the same number of candidates as jobs? Or will Eastern have assumed a certain chop rate per entry?
CC, are you sure this is an 'ideal' recruitment strategy for Eastern? Hiring the desperate and jobless lowest-hours pilots? Let's all be totally honest and totally frank here, most people both in and coming into the industry have met plots who are, sadly, commercially unemployable due personality/etc. We've all come across a gimp or two whom despite having the funds to get their ATPL really have no business doing so. There are some low-houred guys out there who don't have jobs (a.k.a 'immediately available') for a reason...
Fully concur with Duir - this kind of recruitment strategy will appeal most to the 'DBI's', who sit at home with their arse in their hands waiting for that first job to fall into their outstretched palms. As opposed to the guys and gals who have to get a job (sometimes any job, not necessarily flying) to pay the bills and feed the kids while they look.
Finally, to the chap who suggested this new policy was to weed out the undesirables before it was too late for Eastern to change their minds; what a load of bolleux, to quote the French. Are you planning to spend the rest of your career at Eastern? You must be, given that there are plenty of airlines who fly much nicer kit to much nicer places who don't make candidates go unpaid during training.
Bugger me, those airlines must all be chock full of w
kers... (otherwise known as: 'how do these airlines get their selection processes to weed out numpties while Eastern can't?' - if you buy the Eastern spin, that is...)Nope, this is a penny pinching measure if ever I saw one. Scroggs was spot on.
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I fully agree that a lot of pilots lower their expectations but this is because of supply of demand that governs every industry.We live in a world of competition,if u dont want the job on whatever terms someone else might want it,u have to live with it whether u like it or not.
Personally i dont like that David Beckham makes so much money,first of all because he is a f...g and second because i believe that a pilot should make more money than him,but i can live with that idea.
Personally i dont like that David Beckham makes so much money,first of all because he is a f...g and second because i believe that a pilot should make more money than him,but i can live with that idea.
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Imagine this, you are out with some friends and one of them starts telling you his / her plans to train for their dream job in I.T / Sales / Engineering etc... going to cost me over £50k, may take over 2 years because i'm going to do whilst i'm in my other full time job as i have a mortgage, wife, children. But it will all be worth it in the end, to get to where i want to go.
At the end when I'm qualified after passing 14 exams to test whether i have the capacity to learn, and 2 big practical tests ( CPL / IR / Multi ) to see if i have the ability to do the job ( to fly ) / I can apply for jobs. But i might have to give up my current job before i have another, to go on a 3 week course with no guarantee of getting the job!!!! And pay for an assesment to. You get the picture, you would be sat there thinking this person is crazy, committed but god thats a lot of sacrifice to get that dream.
And i think thats where the problem starts, for most it's a dream to one day fly and get paid, but it is in the long and short of it still a job hopefully one you will enjoy but all the same needs to pay the mortgage / bills / food etc...Unless there are people who will do it for free forever. A seperate thread probably!!
I'm not moaning about the sacrifices, i have come into this with my eyes WIDE open, i'm leaving an established career, i have a house which we're selling, a wife and a 4 year old, a familiar story I'm sure.
But there is no other industry i can think of or am aware of that would treat people like this or get away with it. I guess the point is in my ramblings for which i apologise is this, everyone's circumstances are different, but you don't or shouldn't have to be exploited to get to where you want to be. I don't think I'll be owed a job when i finish and I'll bang on doors and anything else to get that first break, I would even consider paying a TR if i had a [B][B]guaranteed job at the end of it, but there comes a point where personal pride comes into it, remember that.
Cheers
Dan
At the end when I'm qualified after passing 14 exams to test whether i have the capacity to learn, and 2 big practical tests ( CPL / IR / Multi ) to see if i have the ability to do the job ( to fly ) / I can apply for jobs. But i might have to give up my current job before i have another, to go on a 3 week course with no guarantee of getting the job!!!! And pay for an assesment to. You get the picture, you would be sat there thinking this person is crazy, committed but god thats a lot of sacrifice to get that dream.
And i think thats where the problem starts, for most it's a dream to one day fly and get paid, but it is in the long and short of it still a job hopefully one you will enjoy but all the same needs to pay the mortgage / bills / food etc...Unless there are people who will do it for free forever. A seperate thread probably!!
I'm not moaning about the sacrifices, i have come into this with my eyes WIDE open, i'm leaving an established career, i have a house which we're selling, a wife and a 4 year old, a familiar story I'm sure.
But there is no other industry i can think of or am aware of that would treat people like this or get away with it. I guess the point is in my ramblings for which i apologise is this, everyone's circumstances are different, but you don't or shouldn't have to be exploited to get to where you want to be. I don't think I'll be owed a job when i finish and I'll bang on doors and anything else to get that first break, I would even consider paying a TR if i had a [B][B]guaranteed job at the end of it, but there comes a point where personal pride comes into it, remember that.
Cheers
Dan
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How well I remember it all! Almost a never ending nightmare but I think that given the time again I would change little.There are people who do it for little or nothing when they hardly need to. I refer of course to all the airline pilots who freelance, moonlight or operate as flight instructors thereby making life considerably harder for those who are on the way up who might not have the benefit of spanking salaries or pension schemes.
But that is another thread and a pretty contentious one at that!
Good luck.
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Eastern Airways are just jumping on the band wagon. The suckers are the guys and girls paying more and more for a career that is getting harder and harder, as well as, having returns that are going down the toilet.
Eastern is a very average company and could do with improving many of the T+C's, as well as, adopting a respect agenda when dealing with its Pilots.
The J41 is a good stable old horse to cut your teeth on
Eastern is a very average company and could do with improving many of the T+C's, as well as, adopting a respect agenda when dealing with its Pilots.
The J41 is a good stable old horse to cut your teeth on
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As someone who used to fly for Eastern on the J41, I thought I would try and highlight why this scheme has probably been introduced since myself and many others are probably to 'blame' so to speak!!! I have been watching this discussion for a few days now but I think it is only fair if I try and show the situation from Eastern's perspective. I am not saying that I agree with what is being done so don't get the comments flowing.
When I joined I was on a full salary from day one of the ground school and once that was completed it was not uncommon to have a slight gap before you did your sim course. I had around 4 - 5 weeks, which at that time was unusually long. During this time you are more or less a sitting duck since you can't fly and with no airside pass either you can't do a great deal on the ground even if you were keen to help. So in my case I had just over a month's salary for sitting not doing very much. Fine for me but surely a bean counters nightmare? Maybe I am speaking hot air and the reasoning behind it could be very different - who knows!
As for the sim check that is being done - well that seems to be a story in its own right. When I joined and during my time with the company, it was very rare to hear that someone had been chopped from the training. However that was in a time when Eastern usually only took people with a bit of instructing or air taxi time behind them so flying skills were normally adequate. Back then to have less than 500 hours on joining was the exception and now it is very common by the sounds of things. As a result maybe some sort of quality control system is required to ensure that all candidates have the necessary ability. The current arrangement of using Triple A is in my view a short term one. The J41 sim is due to be relocated to Humberside and any sim checks will probably be done there instead.
However this new scheme is putting good people off from applying. Eastern
seem to prefer the more mature 'self-improver' pilot who will stay for that bit longer. However this scheme is more of a hurdle for them than it is for someone who is young who can afford to uproot himself/herself at short notice without thinking how they are going to support their family when they are away. That is assuming that the easiest way for many to 'drop their tools' for 3 weeks is to apply for unpaid leave!
I would recommend Eastern as a good solid first job. The whole J41 setup was inherited from BACX and many including myself were trained by BACX and Eastern still use all the SOPs that were previously used so standardisation and training (which is now done in house) are all good.
cavortingcheetah:
Ok maybe £15,000 might be a bit steep but what are all the other turboprop operators bonding you for? It is industry average I am afraid! The J41 is not in a sub turboprop category and it is far from primitive! It is interesting to note that the J41 was the fastest prop in the market before the D328, DHC8-Q400 and the S2000 came onto the market. It is modern and it is a good grounding and the jet I fly now is straight forward compared to the J41! The Saab 2000 is actually a full glass machine - not to confused with the Saab 340, which is completely different. In fact I have been told that some of the computer logic in the Saab 2000 is on a par if not slightly more complex than the Airbus!
When I joined I was on a full salary from day one of the ground school and once that was completed it was not uncommon to have a slight gap before you did your sim course. I had around 4 - 5 weeks, which at that time was unusually long. During this time you are more or less a sitting duck since you can't fly and with no airside pass either you can't do a great deal on the ground even if you were keen to help. So in my case I had just over a month's salary for sitting not doing very much. Fine for me but surely a bean counters nightmare? Maybe I am speaking hot air and the reasoning behind it could be very different - who knows!
As for the sim check that is being done - well that seems to be a story in its own right. When I joined and during my time with the company, it was very rare to hear that someone had been chopped from the training. However that was in a time when Eastern usually only took people with a bit of instructing or air taxi time behind them so flying skills were normally adequate. Back then to have less than 500 hours on joining was the exception and now it is very common by the sounds of things. As a result maybe some sort of quality control system is required to ensure that all candidates have the necessary ability. The current arrangement of using Triple A is in my view a short term one. The J41 sim is due to be relocated to Humberside and any sim checks will probably be done there instead.
However this new scheme is putting good people off from applying. Eastern
seem to prefer the more mature 'self-improver' pilot who will stay for that bit longer. However this scheme is more of a hurdle for them than it is for someone who is young who can afford to uproot himself/herself at short notice without thinking how they are going to support their family when they are away. That is assuming that the easiest way for many to 'drop their tools' for 3 weeks is to apply for unpaid leave!
I would recommend Eastern as a good solid first job. The whole J41 setup was inherited from BACX and many including myself were trained by BACX and Eastern still use all the SOPs that were previously used so standardisation and training (which is now done in house) are all good.
cavortingcheetah:
I agree that the sum of £15k is absurd for a primitive little machine such as a J41 or even the half glass Saab 2000.
Last edited by Mister Geezer; 18th Jan 2006 at 20:57.
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Airlines are not to blame for wanting to cut training costs in order to return a profit for their shareholders. The reason they are able to do this is because the job market is saturated with inexperienced pilots all desperate for their first big break. I think a lot of the responsibility lies not with airlines but with the salesmen/women at commercial schools who make grand statements of imminent pilot shortages in order to get bums on seats (or in airplanes).
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Mister Geezer,I enjoyed your letter. My apologies for my Saab confusion; you are quite right about the 2000.
I suppose that the acid test for the career path return of the aircraft one flies is how much that type is held in esteem by those who run the jet carriers' interview panels. It seems to me that Eastern have set their own entry criteria and, willy nilly, if an aspiring pilot wants a job with them he will have to comply.
I doubt that the long term results of such a policy will do the company too much good if an aviation upswing really does come into being.
