VAMY, what have your heard about Air Atlanta and ACT losing their contracts?

As for FlyNas, I assume the 330 will be Umrah aircraft rather than scheduled like the last time.

Its good ofc but if personally speaking about me then I’m just 320rated and I don’t think they need me
I just want to know if there is a chance to get in stream and move to KSA. I don’t care about money or socials

What I’ve heard is only rumour & conjecture. There seems to be two rumours circulating.

One rumour is that their commercial operation for Saudia has been put in question, by either GACA or SV Safety & Quality, following an audit that found Air Atlanta woefully lacking. This rumour is not without substance as there have been rumors circulating for sometime now that EASA were closely looking at Air Atlanta’s Operations, mainly because they have concerns about airworthiness & maintenance issues.

The other rumour is that the Icelandic regulatory authority has suspended Air Atlanta’s Icelandic AOC following allegations/proof that the airline were involved in the “carriage of munitions & weapons of war”, more commonly known as “Gun Running” or “ Arms Smuggling”. This activity I believe is contrary to the Icelandic Air Navigation Order, unless special approval is granted by the relevant competent authority. In this case that would have to be the Icelandic authority, as that is the authority/jurisdiction in which the airline is based, their aircraft are registered under and their AOC issued under. I can’t see why, under any circumstances, that the Icelandic authorities would need to be granting that type of approval. In fact I can’t even remember the last time the Icelandic’s were involved in any sort of “armed conflict”, unless of course you go all the way back in history to the time of the Vikings. If my history serves me correctly, there may have been some rape, pillage and skirmish activity involved back then but nothing requiring the use of automatic weapons, depleted uranium artillary shells or the like. However, Air Atlanta’s main customer certainly has a requirement for that type of cargo & indeed their own B747-8F’s have been used to transport that particular type of cargo on more than one occasion.

Coincidentally, a well trodden career path for B747-400 Flight Deck Crew leaving the employ of Air Atlanta is to move to Silkway West, whose rapid expansion as a B747-400/B747-8F cargo operator is closely linked to the supply of “weapons & munitions of war” to the Assad/Putin side of the Syrian war/conflict.

As for the FlyNas A330’s and their useage? Who knows, may be there’ll be deployed in the transport of some Vikings to assist in the conflict in Yemen?

Anyways, they’re just rumours, as yet to be verified as scurrilous or otherwise.

Hi everybody, i tried to find out but maybe missed and couldn't see.
nowadays i am thinking about to go QR or Saudia. is there anybody can inform me about first officer life in Saudia ?
basic salary
extras
overtime payments etc. ?
thanks.

Is Saudia hiring???

More Yemeni missiles hitting Riyadh thurs/fri I heard but I haven't seen in Western media yet.
Any crew hurt/effected?
Quite worrying when all expats had a forced base reallocation to Riyadh. :uhoh:

well , i just heard some gossip about it. not sure :rolleyes:

Hi UdD,

Saudia is definitely NOT hiring any expat First Officers. Not now & not anytime soon, NOR is it hiring any expatriate Captains. The days of Saudia hiring expat Flight Deck Crew are over. Saudi’s only from here onwards.

In reality they’re retiring many of the more senior expat First Officers who were promised for years an upgrade in seniority order only to find that when their number came up that upgrades are for Saudi’s only. What’s more, many had their contracts cut short or not renewed.

Nothing Has Changed
 

Nope. Nothing has changed from when I worked there 15-20 years ago. Hollow promises.

Actually, all the Expat FOs got kicked sometime between 1999-2002. (maybe a bit earlier)...

None were brought back until 2006

Almost correct Metro301, they had 9, 8 on the Classic and one in SFS, then they started rehiring with Classic guys but in small numbers.

Saudia is offering now a short term contract for 330 skippers, 15 k net on the pocket, 20 on 10 off and other "benefits" on the contract...

Thanks Mutt, I stand corrected, I now recall a handful of folks remaining back then.

I would appreciate more info.
Where can I find this new offer???
is this only for already 330 TR Capt. or wide body Capt can apply for???
What are the other benefits???

Regards

Check FCI's website (Flight Crew Internacional)

Cheers

@Morgan.... you appear to have PM's and emails selected off.

200 planes by 2020 appears to be a fallacy, even if you consider the FlyADeal fleet. The crews just aren't available. The new airport is open but just for one destination a day.

The Flyadeal fleet is not considered in that 200 either. Obviously it is impossible. They have managed to enlarge the fleet from 121 to about 138 (currently operating) aircraft since 2013. That's with the training center at full capacity and using expats that take half the training time.

They currently have sufficient Saudi's to crew 108 aircraft. How can you increase that number by 92 aircraft in 2 years? Sorry, I forgot, drag cadets in off the street, that'll resolve the problem.:hmm:

I heard tha SV just got 30 777-300ER options from EK. Any inside info????
If true, are this 30 to add or replace the fleet???
Any option SV will open for expact DEC B777 20/10 roster in the next year due this 30 aircraft??
On 20/10 roster is school allowance ovearseas available?

If what you've heard is true then the answer to all those questions is possibly.

They don't want to hire foreign pilots though. For your questions to be answered in the affirmative, they'll have to be very short.

May be they'll start hiring after the 30th 777 joins the fleet.
77 Sims are only used for recurrent training, there is no intial training happening now.

But as of now, I don't think they are making use of all the 77s.

Gotta raise the BS flag on this one.

They have not hired expats for almost two years, so no change there.

As for salary reduction, they are short on all equipment. Highly unlikely to reduce salary in the middle of shortages.

Hi guys, had anything changed at SV? No more hirings of foreigners?

Would love to hear.

All recruitment of foreign Pilots has stopped. It will not start again in the near term.

I am not 100% sure that this is currently accurate. I heard talk of a recent recruitment drive in CAI for SVA. This is an unconfirmed rumour.

It never happened. Unconfirmed rumour about a recruitment drive...LOL

WHY would anyone in their right sane mind even consider going to an airline operation based in Saudi Arabia (KSA), when there are so many airlines around the world recruiting onto Airbus and Boeings. You have to be nuts to go there for a job in the Saudi desert, unless of course you´re currently flying for an Indonesian or Philippino one and you get a pay (only) increase. Wow. Just wondering? Why? Because Saudi is such an awesome and interesting country to live in? Just curious what drives people to consider this option. Cheers.

Because Saudi is such an awesome and interesting country to live in?

Actually if you get outside, it is an awesome and interesting country to live in.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/t...tructures.html

All you need to enjoy it is a drone! Pronto...

That is the one I heard...

uncomfirmed LOL

Have you seen the number of Saudi Nationals that are newly released or currently in trg?

30+ KSA national RUH based FO's are on their way to 330 transition.

The writing was on the wall for the past year concerning the expat FO's....

Contract renewals will be made based on operational requirements. That suggests that the timing of your contract expiry may decide whether they require you or release you.

They are upgrading a large number of local F/O's and replacing those F/O's at a slower rate with cadets. That indicates that they still require the expat F/O's. Currently however, management believes utilisation to be poor relative to industry standard, that means that there is some slack in the system allowing for a number of expat F/O's to be released. With substantial growth however, that is unlikely to continue.

In my opinion they're a little like the Chinese, they don't want foreign Pilots but they need foreign Pilots. You have factions within management and government (exactly like China). There are those who understand the need for foreign Pilots and the those who want to remove foreign Pilots at any cost.

Just to add that they are upgrading F/O's to Captains in the path of cadets who are receiving minimal training by industry standards.
This may not continue.