AirBaltic

[Luray]

2500 tt + 1000 on heavy turboprops, age 33. I live in Riga. Wasn't even invited for the interview - " we regret to inform you....to f.off". Friend of mine 35 years old - 5500 tt on airbus A320 from Tallin was invited and passed all stages later to be told to join me. Some other experienced pilots from Baltics were not selected as well.
Its likely they are not interested in keeping their pilots for long. This is understandable as their training center belongs to some individual who makes a lot of money on that new a220 sim laundry machine.

[ctacik]

Originally Posted by Luray

2500 tt + 1000 on heavy turboprops, age 33. I live in Riga. Wasn't even invited for the interview - " we regret to inform you....to f.off". Friend of mine 35 years old - 5500 tt on airbus A320 from Tallin was invited and passed all stages later to be told to join me. Some other experienced pilots from Baltics were not selected as well.
Its likely they are not interested in keeping their pilots for long. This is understandable as their training center belongs to some individual who makes a lot of money on that new a220 sim laundry machine.

On May 2020 they fired almost everyone due pandemic. When on 2022 started hiring back, they failed Latvian pilots who where rated on A220 and were flying for airbaltic till they were fired.
What you say, could explain that.
On the other hand, they hired now a guy who lives in Riga too (not baltic) with hours only as FI and aerobatics, contrary with their requirements for 300 hours on aircrafts above 5,7 tones FMS, etc etc.
It's also interesting the number of pilots they hired from a specific country (not baltic), including the guy who was flying a no FMS/EFIS aircraft contrary again with their requirements.
Seems like is just enough to know the right people.
How is it possible to fail a guys with hours on airbus like your friend and look the other way on pilots who don't even meet their requirements?
I was talking with another Latvian pilot who was quite experienced in jets but was also failed in the assessment and he was complaining too.
If you are still interested you might ask them how they got in, seems there is a shortcut (don't ask me, perhaps there were not well connected applicants when I joined)
Let's say that the girs in HR missed to google the aircrafts on their CV's but how could the assessor TRI captain miss that?
Btw I am happy that I am leaving soon. Even my local gf is happy as she will follow me to a warmer country.
Even locals hate this frosty place, it's almost March and everything is covered with snow and ice. Minus 6 degrees right now

[Luray]

In 2019 AB offered me position on A220 as FO. I quit my turboprop airline job and accepted A220 offer. Passed all OCC exams with high scores, never missed a lesson and my attitude was very positive. They planned me first out of my group to get a TR. They gave me a ticket, hotel reservation and per diems. One day before flying to a sim I was called in for a meeting with a chief pilot and he told me I am fired and they have a right of no explanation and that it was not my fault. My TR slot was immediately given to one of their ground instructor/q400 pilot.
When I signed my resignation letter and left, just before office door was shut I heard him and HR lady laughing and making jokes. They didn't care that I left my former airline and had a family to feed. During OCC they constantly fed us with toxic crap - "Joining us is like joining a family, we are all family , famiiilyyyy faaaaamiiillyyyyy" . I am glad my family is not like that, otherwise i'd feed them to dogs.
Happy moving! I also moved and its +20 outside

[ctacik]

Originally Posted by Luray

In 2019 AB offered me position on A220 as FO. I quit my turboprop airline job and accepted A220 offer. Passed all OCC exams with high scores, never missed a lesson and my attitude was very positive. They planned me first out of my group to get a TR. They gave me a ticket, hotel reservation and per diems. One day before flying to a sim I was called in for a meeting with a chief pilot and he told me I am fired and they have a right of no explanation and that it was not my fault. My TR slot was immediately given to one of their ground instructor/q400 pilot.
When I signed my resignation letter and left, just before office door was shut I heard him and HR lady laughing and making jokes. They didn't care that I left my former airline and had a family to feed. During OCC they constantly fed us with toxic crap - "Joining us is like joining a family, we are all family , famiiilyyyy faaaaamiiillyyyyy" . I am glad my family is not like that, otherwise i'd feed them to dogs.
Happy moving! I also moved and its +20 outside

Thank you!
Long story short, they kicked you out cause they gave your position to someone else.
That is disgusting, especially after you quitted your previous airline job to join them.
What family, we saw their criteria on 2020 firings
They keep the same culture as it seems, by failing guys like your friend you mentioned and hiring people who don't meet their official requirements. Can't be a coincidence all these. Another form of P2F
Hope they will stay in incidents like the one which slid of runway and not something worse.
Wish you all the best now on, market is reopening

[Luray]

Originally Posted by ave

That’s criminal behaviour. Better name for them would be Russian Mafia Airlines.
I don’t know if I could be as cool as you if I was in your position. Luckily they failed me early and I passed another interview soon after. If they had treated me like you, I would have missed that chance.
I don’t think I would show a strong character like you

Thank you for your words. We are all cool and strong after living trough covid eye opening times. Believe me, when this green airline turns yellow and die, no one will hire those top floor humanoids.

[ctacik]

Originally Posted by Luray

In 2019 AB offered me position on A220 as FO. I quit my turboprop airline job and accepted A220 offer. Passed all OCC exams with high scores, never missed a lesson and my attitude was very positive. They planned me first out of my group to get a TR. They gave me a ticket, hotel reservation and per diems. One day before flying to a sim I was called in for a meeting with a chief pilot and he told me I am fired and they have a right of no explanation and that it was not my fault. My TR slot was immediately given to one of their ground instructor/q400 pilot.
When I signed my resignation letter and left, just before office door was shut I heard him and HR lady laughing and making jokes. They didn't care that I left my former airline and had a family to feed. During OCC they constantly fed us with toxic crap - "Joining us is like joining a family, we are all family , famiiilyyyy faaaaamiiillyyyyy" . I am glad my family is not like that, otherwise i'd feed them to dogs.
Happy moving! I also moved and its +20 outside

Originally Posted by Luray

Thank you for your words. We are all cool and strong after living trough covid eye opening times. Believe me, when this green airline turns yellow and die, no one will hire those top floor humanoids.

2019 wasn't a good time for fair play.
If you remember, that year a lot of Dutch pilots joined airbaltic.They had something in common. They were coming from a specific flight school/airline. The other thing they had in common was that they were flying the jetstream 32 aircraft. Requirements back then were the same, EFIS FMS etc. Jetstream 32 is NOT EFIS/FMS. That year they even hired Hungarian pilots that they were flying the Piper Pa42 aircraft, which beside the EFIS/FMS, MTOW is less than 5,7 tones. Now they hire a lot of Czech pilots including ones with experience on LET410 and they also hired pilots who were flying only as FI.
Off course you made some space for them.
I don't know in which floor are the people who decides about these but is quite annoying that assessor captains are involved. What kind of pilots...

[skyguardian88]

Originally Posted by ctacik

2019 wasn't a good time for fair play.
If you remember, that year a lot of Dutch pilots joined airbaltic.They had something in common. They were coming from a specific flight school/airline. The other thing they had in common was that they were flying the jetstream 32 aircraft. Requirements back then were the same, EFIS FMS etc. Jetstream 32 is NOT EFIS/FMS. That year they even hired Hungarian pilots that they were flying the Piper Pa42 aircraft, which beside the EFIS/FMS, MTOW is less than 5,7 tones. Now they hire a lot of Czech pilots including ones with experience on LET410 and they also hired pilots who were flying only as FI.
Off course you made some space for them.
I don't know in which floor are the people who decides about these but is quite annoying that assessor captains are involved. What kind of pilots...

In 2019 they hired direct entry A220 first officers with a320 rating but no hours on the type except the base training hours. The rest on piston
Almost all of the Dutch guys were coming from AIS

[batushka]

Originally Posted by ctacik

Ha! Maybe that is the real reason they do the assessments on a prop sim
It's not the soviet mentality, it's a bad company mentality, you can find it in every corner of the planet.
They treat the pilots like sh#t and who are no any longer bonded and able to leave have already started leaving in after covid situation.
Company will find others to replace them even if they have to ignore the minimum requirements that they have set and now there is no time to wait for some company to collapse so to find qualified but desperate pilots. An airbaltic A220 skidded off after landing in Riga with 6 kt of wind, seems that didn't ring any bell

New incident just yesterday
Exact the same conditions, Riga airport, wind 6 kt, airbaltic A220 runway excursion

[ctacik]

Originally Posted by batushka

New incident just yesterday
Exact the same conditions, Riga airport, wind 6 kt, airbaltic A220 runway excursion

This time was 10 knots of wind
That's the third incident of airbaltic A220 runway excursion.
If they hire pilots who can't fly jets they should go back to props, that would be safer at least

[skyguardian88]

Originally Posted by nenovah

Anyone got information how strict is the 300h CAT operation requirement? I presume they dont answer to applications by fresh graduates?
Thanks for any information.

I see that you are from Finland. Few months ago a Finnish FI joined airbaltic as A220 F/O having hours only on piston aircrafts and he was not an ab academy graduate
I think you will get the proper info if you somehow contact him

[Luray]

It was on the news that they are preparing for IPO - initial public offering which means Latvian government will sell some of its shares in 2024. In simple words - they need cash. Would you like to own a piece of shiaare of Aeroflot heritage?

[ctacik]

Originally Posted by Luray

It was on the news that they are preparing for IPO - initial public offering which means Latvian government will sell some of its shares in 2024. In simple words - they need cash. Would you like to own a piece of shiaare of Aeroflot heritage?

I wouldn't put my money in an airline with three runway excursions, one aircraft heavily damaged after hard landing in Amsterdam etc etc in the last year.
A major accident is coming and that could put ab out of business
Russian commercial bank Investbank and the Latvian firm Baltijas Aviācijas Sistēmas (BAS), which in 2012, the year the dispute goes back to, held a 47.2% stake in the airbaltic
Now Russians ask 31 millions back

[skyguardian88]

Originally Posted by patituri

We should open a new thread about which aircrafts are considered EFIS. I don’t know if there is any legal definition. As I wrote before, SAAB isn’t equipped with an EICAS, I checked photos there are mechanical gauges instead. But has CRT PFD. I don’t know the percentage of electronic instruments for an aircraft to be considered EFIS. Ideas for new threads…
For airbaltic’s requirements that people ask…
They also hired this period a Czech guy who was flying a LET410, that’s not an EFIS for sure. Maybe someone will say that if you install an ipad in LET410 cockpit might be considered as EFIS, at least for airbaltic hiring team.
They also hired an Italian guy with 0 hours on aircrafts above 5,7 tones.
But on requirements they ask EFIS and 300 hrs on airplanes above 5,7 tones.
I don’t know if the guys who ask in this thread can just apply without having these requirements or not. Maybe in a post soviet country the soviet mentality remains and is enough to know the right people to skip something. Maybe they are just not so strict.
I any case I think they should apply

Actually they hired more than one Czech pilot flying LET410
Reminds me 2018-19 when they massively hired Dutch pilots who were coming from a specific airline flying jetstream 31 aircraft
Same now, Czech pilots come from a specific company flying aircrafts not equipped with FMS or EFIS
And it's not only the guy you say who got hired having hours only as FI
Just saying

[ctacik]

Originally Posted by WaylanderShade

1. Just google “saab 340 EFIS” and you will see
2. I did not mention any connection between EFIS and ZFTT. Its not just 500h on any type of ac, you can google the regulation as well.
3. “Extra training “ from prop to jet is not applicable, at least wasn’t for me.

Originally Posted by skyguardian88

Actually they hired more than one Czech pilot flying LET410
Reminds me 2018-19 when they massively hired Dutch pilots who were coming from a specific airline flying jetstream 31 aircraft
Same now, Czech pilots come from a specific company flying aircrafts not equipped with FMS or EFIS
And it's not only the guy you say who got hired having hours only as FI
Just saying

@WaylanderShade does Prg stands for Prague?
What @skyguardian88 says about for Czech LET410 drivers are serious allegations man.
Can you help the conversation?
I bet you know all the details and you can tell something for theirs and ab defence

[Intrance]

Originally Posted by ctacik

@WaylanderShade does Prg stands for Prague?
What @skyguardian88 says about for Czech LET410 drivers are serious allegations man.
Can you help the conversation?
I bet you know all the details and you can tell something for theirs and ab defence

I am not speaking in anyone's defense, but from reading here it sounds like they like hiring people with good manual flying skills, both in the past and now. The Jetstream 31/32 and Let 410 are not the easiest aircraft to fly (I speak from experience on the JS31/32). Basic six pack pretty much, no autopilot in most of them. Tricky to land well. The type of operations they usually fly will likely include a lot of visuals and non-precision approaches. I would generally trust pilots that have a year or two on a type like that to have some above average manual flying skills.

Likely they would prefer them to have the EFIS/FMS/FMA experience, but it usually takes more time and effort to add the skills to make a good pilot out of a good systems operator than the other way around. So if given the choice between someone with 500hrs EFIS/FMS aircraft experience but likely only disconnecting the autopilot in the last 1000ft, or someone with 500hrs of pure manual flying...

In the end it is the employer's prerogative I suppose, but it does not suit them to advertise one thing and act differently.

[Zlip]

Originally Posted by Intrance

I am not speaking in anyone's defense, but from reading here it sounds like they like hiring people with good manual flying skills, both in the past and now. The Jetstream 31/32 and Let 410 are not the easiest aircraft to fly (I speak from experience on the JS31/32). Basic six pack pretty much, no autopilot in most of them. Tricky to land well. The type of operations they usually fly will likely include a lot of visuals and non-precision approaches. I would generally trust pilots that have a year or two on a type like that to have some above average manual flying skills.

Likely they would prefer them to have the EFIS/FMS/FMA experience, but it usually takes more time and effort to add the skills to make a good pilot out of a good systems operator than the other way around. So if given the choice between someone with 500hrs EFIS/FMS aircraft experience but likely only disconnecting the autopilot in the last 1000ft, or someone with 500hrs of pure manual flying...

In the end it is the employer's prerogative I suppose, but it does not suit them to advertise one thing and act differently.

I find it funny (sarcasm) because I just came back from Canada with 2000h on the Jetstream 32 (FO and Captain) but I also have 500h PIC on the PC-12NG. A mix of handflying and FMS/Glass cockpit in a summary. But I have no feedback from airline who require jet experience most of the time. The total time requested is not so much but still jet experience... The CS-23 stuff is not valued by EU airlines at this time.

On the other hand, when I left Canada, I had the opportunity to get an interview with Air Canada with the same CV. Weird market.

[ctacik]

Originally Posted by Intrance

I am not speaking in anyone's defense, but from reading here it sounds like they like hiring people with good manual flying skills, both in the past and now. The Jetstream 31/32 and Let 410 are not the easiest aircraft to fly (I speak from experience on the JS31/32). Basic six pack pretty much, no autopilot in most of them. Tricky to land well. The type of operations they usually fly will likely include a lot of visuals and non-precision approaches. I would generally trust pilots that have a year or two on a type like that to have some above average manual flying skills.

Likely they would prefer them to have the EFIS/FMS/FMA experience, but it usually takes more time and effort to add the skills to make a good pilot out of a good systems operator than the other way around. So if given the choice between someone with 500hrs EFIS/FMS aircraft experience but likely only disconnecting the autopilot in the last 1000ft, or someone with 500hrs of pure manual flying...

In the end it is the employer's prerogative I suppose, but it does not suit them to advertise one thing and act differently.

All the conversation started by a couple of guys asking if they can apply without meeting the requirements on the hiring page. Maybe yes, if they find who to ''contact''?
I don't judge the pilots but the suspicious ( to put it polite) practice of airBaltic to hire pilots who don't fill the requirements for the position, at least according to their hiring page (300 hrs on EFIS, FMS, FMA, 5,7tn a/c)
If you apply to any serious airline without meeting the requirements, they will not reply to you at all or they will send an email telling you that you don't meet the requirements.
For airBaltic, not even they invite them but hire them as well. Extra suspicious is the fact that the pilots who don't meet the requirements come from specific companies. Two big groups with the same characteristics are the Dutch (AIS flight school/airline)) a couple of years ago and now the Czech (I don't know the company but I guess all of them coming from the same, who uses LET410?)
I was hearing complains in person from jet experienced pilots, even Latvians, that they had ''unfair'' assessments and were failed.
I think these practices are embarrassing for our profession especially when assessor captains are involved and should be pointed out.
@Luray wrote that he was kicked out after the OCC without explanation, I think it is profound that his position was given to someone who knew the right people. And that poor guy left his previous airline to join ab.
As pilots we shouldn't stay neutral to situations like these

[skyguardian88]

Originally Posted by Michael S

Regarding the L410, new versions are full glass cockpit and there are fairly affordable conversions available for the older ones. I remember flying with a guy who was introducing those conversions to one of the l410 operators.

That's a photo of OK-LAZ, belongs to Vanair. The Czech group of pilots who joined airBaltic recently, are coming from Vanair
Any other idea how they passed?

[skyguardian88]

Originally Posted by batushka

New incident just yesterday
Exact the same conditions, Riga airport, wind 6 kt, airbaltic A220 runway excursion

On the first incident it was full right rudder by 60 kts
I don't know the details for the second runway excursion but it must be something similar
Also for the hard landing in Amsterdam where the aircraft went under maintenance before fly again
Airbaltic dismissed 3 years ago real dedicated and experienced professional Commanders sometimes officially based on performance assessment and seniority criterias (and later offered them maybe to return as FOs)))) and saved other unprofessional Commanders protected by Seniority and good relationship with Gerhard, Chris and Vincent.
Some F/O who were dismissed on 2020 were failed on rehiring assessment last year although rated on A220
In their position hired some Finnish flight instructors with experience only on piston aircrafts
They can't see that they have hard time to properly train pilots with no experience on jet aircrafts
It was safer to hire or upgrade ''friends'' in Q400 era, it obviously doesn't work with the A220

[ctacik]

Originally Posted by Flyingmikez142

they do, and quite fast I am fresh graduated with 600TT and I was declined within few days

I see you have location Prague.
Now you know what to do if you are still interested.
Go to Vanair offices and ask them who is the middleman with airBaltic
They will skip all the requirements to hire you, like your fellow Czechs who joined airBaltic in the recent job opening
I don't know how much it will cost you, Latvians love expensive cars