ME VIP Operations; Criteria for Selection
 

Does anyone know what criteria the Middle East VIP operations use in selecting their Captains?

I would have thought that someone from a major, major western airline background, and a native English speaker, would have at least merited an interview. If only because of the first rate training, and the consistency of that training, that they would have received over many, many years.

Once the official report of the BA 777 incident at Heathrow is published I understand it will become apparent that in 'lesser hands' BA 38 would have ended in tragedy.

Re. the recent Iberia crash in South America, that would not have happened in my airline as 'ducking below the glide slope' is not permitted.

Is there a move to local Middle Eastern Captains for these VIP operations these days?

Would be very grateful for any information.

From my experience it is necessary to know someone already working there, they seem to employ by personal recommendation from within.
I know of two VIP flight is the ME, one is the preserve of ex BA and the other you will need a Zimbabwe passport for;).

CIRCE,

PURLEASE, You must be one of those Skygods I've heard so much about. Let's wait for the report and see if those superior handling skills were necessary because of some cockpit crew fcuk up.

:yuk:

Circe2


((Once the official report of the BA 777 incident at Heathrow is published I understand it will become apparent that in 'lesser hands' BA 38 would have ended in tragedy ))

This is such an arrogant statement ! :=

Buddy, it’s childish to go down that road, I for one, whenever a crash happens, I pray to God that it was not a pilot error, regardless of who was on the control, any nationality, race or religion, he is a fellow aviator, and that is sufficient for me to wish it was not his fault.

Lets keep such attitudes for 8 year old kids and hope they will grow out of it some time .

:)

Does anyone know what criteria the Middle East VIP operations use in selecting their Captains?

I would have thought that someone from a major, major western airline background, and a native English speaker, would have at least merited an interview. If only because of the first rate training, and the consistency of that training, that they would have received over many, many years.

Well, I just remind you are talking about Arabic countries. So I don't really see the point about being a native English speaker, unless you believe this would bring any kind of skills superiority.

The non-western part of the world is also aware about the fact that westerners are flying strange machines in the sky and I even suspect that they already developed some kind of aviation related skills :eek:

Bwana is no more alone ! It's freaky, but it's a fact...

Well, I know many boys and girls with JAA licences and experiences matching with ME requirements that are not blue eyed or native english speakers.
To me, and especially for VIP transportation in arabic countries, spoken Arabic is more an advantage than simply being a "native" westerner...I would be interested to know how many westerners expats in the ME started arabic classes.

useless remarks
 

i saw this thread and have to agree, that the remark made along with a

further comparrison with a tradegy in brasil, to even state such a idiotic,

useless remark, just goes to show>. u don't have any clue as well as class

to be even considered as a candidate for a postion in a VIP

company. only vip that u qualify is Very Idiotic Person>> \



I dont ever comment on someone's thread but im sorry this one just goes to show how some out there think!! Wake up its 2008!!!!!:ugh::ugh::ugh:

sispanys ria

Do you have a pair of white gloves? They would be more "important for the job" than spoken Arabic.

The criteria for selection varies from one provider to the next.
As someone already pointed out, it is a great advantage to know someone who is working there.
In the Middle East, it is not just logged hours and legacy airline experience that counts.
They also want to know if you are culturally aware and can cope with the ME lifestyle and all the nuances that go with that.
There is absolutely no room in a VIP setup for anyone's ego except that of your very well-laden passengers and if you are used to being "the man in charge of your aircraft" - you can forget that the second you arrive here. There is a whole new art to be learned in telling someone very subtly the things that can or can't be done.

Working over here is not as easy as it sounds.
Sure, the salaries are great and the weather is great for eight months of the year, but it takes a certain "type" of person to get on with the locals.
After only a year here, I can pretty much gauge which of my friends would cope here and which would be out of here within a fortnight.

There is nothing more valuable in this neck of the woods than a good inside contact - it's all about relationships.

Completely agree with Farrell. Been doing VIP in the sandpit for 8 years now following my time in the airlines and hired a number of guys. Through experience, my list of important attributes are:

:) The candidate should have the required experience to be able to fly the aircraft as second nature.

:E The candidate's ability to be able peacefully exist in a small, independently capable team is paramount. As Farrell intimates - no ego's.

;) Stable personality with a wife with the same. Don't need knee-jerkers.

That's it. If you are the above there's an excellent chance you'll be fine in all the other fields.

4HP

Can't say that any of the above posts have revealed the contributors sexual preferences:}

Did you intend to address everybody as "guys" by any chance?????????????

hahaha...........it's hard to laugh

Circe2

Your post reeks of arrogance!!

What is it like to be an "ACE"? I have always wondered what it would be like, so now seems we have one "on board" that can tell all of us.

Doesn't really matter how good you think you are but in the real world it is often easier to train a pilot on a new type than train a pilot to do a new job.

Surely, this is a post intended solely to provoke such responses.

No-one is that stupid or arrogant.