Seeking Info For Employment
 

Esteemed colleagues,
From reading the thread, I guess I am writing to Mutt however, I will accept the advice of anyone. I am finishing up my 25-year career in the U.S. Navy. I have 2200+ TT (CH-46/SA227/BE200), FAA and CAA ATP, will also get my A320 type rating before retiring in Jan. I am currently flying the BE200 out of Bahrain. Experienced flying in Asia, Europe and the Persian Gulf. Single (supporting elderly mother back in SOCAL). I am extremely interested in flying in the region. Do I stand a chance at Saudi without any jet time? I know I have flown anything over a MGTOW of 23,000 lbs, but I would hope that 2200+ hours of military flying and over 1362 sorties mean something. Perhaps in this venerated circle these numbers aren’t impressive. What do I need to do to get the nod??? Thanks for any and all inputs. Fly safe!!!

Flyby71, do you know you are leaving on the 23 or just assuming? I got the initial email but just waiting now. Nothing like waiting till the last moment! I need to reaarange somethings if I am going so it would be nice to know.

B747 slots close ?
 

Hi Mutt,
Urraca here. I am still waiting for Belal to say when the Visa is ready, but seeing you say the B747 is closing, maybe, could it be I am waiting in vain? My other contacts in SV tell me I will be called, I sure hope so, I WANT THE JOB.

NAY-VEE PILOT, if you want to fly corporate in a Hawker 400, then you can apply, but otherwise you dont have the required experience for their airliners.

Urraca, if you read what i wrote, i said that the recruitment for the 747 Classic should close if they get enough people at the Cairo interviews, there are only a dozen or so slots for that aircraft. If you have gotten to the stage of waiting for a visa, then this doesnt apply to you!

As for the rest of you, write to the man, i posted his email address a number of times. I do know that he is under immense stress trying to sort the whole thing out and believe it or not, its a one man show!

Hang in there.

Mutt

Many thanks Mutt
 

Mutt,
Thanks for your info, I better wait for the next e-mail from Mr. Karim. You have given me hope !!! I want to work for SV and hope to be able to get the job. Will wait, I know Belal is crowded, will not bother him, spoke with him not to long ago, Hey, do you know the WILDMAN by any chance? He is flying a B 707 in the area !!! used to be one of the big guys with the SAUDI faa. If I get the job, let us get together and thanks again.
Urraca

Hey 4Holer

I was just assuming that I had to leave on the 23rd to get there in time. As of now, no concrete details, except e-mail saying to stand by.

Sim and Medical check
 

I interviewed in Cairo at the end of May. I'm still waiting for a visa to go do the Sim and medical check in Jeddah. Anyone else in the same boat?
I was told that we should get a call soon for the visa.

Just received email confirmation for interview in Cairo on 6/29 at 08:30. Anyone else?

Askerl28

Did you specify that you wanted the interview on the 29th or they just assigned it randomly?

When asked for my availability during that 4 day block, I responded with 6/28-6/29. It looks like I will have to leave on 6/27 to make it on time. I'm coming in from SFO.

Congratulations askerl28. I responded that I'm available 24th and 25th, so I would have to leave 2morrow to get there, but so far no e-mail, except we got your availability and stand by. I'm coming from Fort Lauderdale/Miami area. We'll see what unfolds tomorrow. Once again, congratulations and go kick ass during the interview process.

I know the visas for the first group that interviewed in May came through. I know of at least two of us that they want to leave via JFK on Thursday and one other guy that is shooting for this weekend... Sim and medical supposed to be Sat-Mon.

For the guys waiting for travel to the interview, this seems to be par for the course. I got my travel at 2.00pm on the day before I travelled last month. Another guy got his at 6.00am on the morning he travelled (on a 9.30am flight...).

My suggestion would be to email the man and give him a call (his cell number was in the initial email he sent us all). I talked to him last week and he was out sick for 2 weeks (and like Mutt said, he's a one-man show), and they've been having internet (server) "issues" and losing emails... So, he's got to be swamped.

Good luck to everyone interviewing this week. Hopefully we can all get together to hoist a few cold ones (Cokes that is...) in Jeddah in a few months...

Hawker & Falcon
 

Hi Mutt,

Thanks for the all the info you provided. Very useful.
I got questions on SV's Hawker & Falcon operations. As a low time F/O(a little over 2,000 hours of heavy jet), it was only slot I could apply.
1. How about life style of the business jet pilots? Do they can get 6 days off in a row?
2. How about upgrade opportunities? Let say, Business Jet F/O --> BJ Capt --> A320 Capt --> and so on.
3. How about typical monthly salary BJ F/O gets?

Thanks in advance! appreciate that!!

besides the once a month ACM, are there other avenues of regular commuting for myself AND my family (eg. ID90s, ID50s, jumpseat hop ons, etc.)?

The ACM are only for the Pilot employee. In addition, you get 1 positive space first class rtn tkt (3-1) and 1 Stby rtn tkt (4-1) each year. Your family gets those as well.

After that, you can but ID 90 space available or ID 50 confirmed space on Saudia. That can get pricey....

Saudia also has ZED agreements with most major airlines. Zed fare can be cheaper than using the ID tickets on Saudia. The only time I ever have an issue with a ZED is while flying inside the USA as the flights are usually full and Zed is the lowest priority. I use them regularly out of Europe to the USA and Canada, then once in the states, I buy full fare on Jetblue or something similar.

Same deal for Asia, I usually make my way to KUL and then buy full fare on Air Asia. Although I have had some good luck with Zed's on Malaysian

I would suggest going for the F900 rather than the Hawker :)

1: Yes, they get 6 days off in a row due to doing 24 standby duties (The airline guys only do 12 hour standby duties).
2: There is not official career path, but that is supposed to change, but not including crossing over to the airline side for non-nationals
3: Basic salary as per website is US67k per year for a FO.

For anyone thinking that this is a commuting contract, its NOT!

Mutt

Sorry for the question, but what it means "12.3 months salary each year"?

Also what's the averages block hours per month for medium haul?

Thanks

Difference between Arabic calender and Western.... 12.3 months vs 12 months.. Salary is paid each Arabic month.

50-55 hrs block..

Mutt

Visa
 

Does anyone know if I need a visa if I am a US citizen traveling to Cairo?

Hourly rate...
 

Mutt,

Sorry to be out of touch, but the SV site talks about the hourly rate but never tells what that number actually is. What are the rates and a typical schedule for the A320/MD90 crews?

US citizens buy a visa on arrival at the Cairo Airport. You can get it from one of the currency exchange windows and it costs around $15usd.

The monthly basic salary, divided by the hour guarantee for the type of equipment you are looking at will give you the hourly rate.

EMB170/MD90 = 65 credit hours a month.
A320 = 70 credit hours a month.
Heavy = 75 credit hours a month.

There is no typical schedule for the A320 because they are not here yet.

The MD90 changes drastically throughout the year. sometimes the schedules will be 80+ credit hours other times the lines may be at or below minimum guarantee. Plan on the basics for your budget.