Would you believe that a lot of the locals think that quality of life is more important than money? So they like the idea of 10 days off.

Dear all gentleman,

I'm interested to join SV. May I know how's the working environment? Cockpit atmosphere?
Appreciate your advice.

The working environment and atmosphere is generally reasonable.

Current failure rates during training remain high at around the 50% level which is a little better than a few years ago but still very high. Interview pass rates are better but shortly Saudia will start formal background checks.

about time :)

is the 50% failure rate in the sim or line training? and is it aircraft specific?

I think the 50% failure rate is a mixture of both of those, at a guess I would say more failures come during line training. I think there is a lot of pressure on the academy to get people through the ground part of training. The Saudi line instructors however are not going to put anybody who they are not happy with in front of GACA or up for the company check. Fleets, well I have heard of failures on all fleets.

You can fairly accurately say that 50% of people who start today will not be here in 1 years time.

Dear Polax52,

May I know generally, what are the failure items in either sim or line training?
Is training in SV really stressful or tough?
Need your advice. TQ

I believe that it will be 9 across economy seating, really cant say that I'm looking forward to flying in this as I think that the 787 seats are just too narrow.

Failure rates
 

Allow me to offer my dime on the failure rate for this year. Untill end of June things were running very smooth.only 5-6 failures out of 60 ppl. At that time an expat skip made a crucial mistake in his GACA oral. He had a confrontation with his examiner. The examiner failed him ASAP as well as the next 2 expat skippers (collateral losses :\).the guy in question ,left the company without notice,he didn't even pay the extras on the hotel.since then things got a very sloppy road.7 out of 8 expats from the next group had difficulties and i dont know about their status right now.Training in SV has one key word ATTITUDE.The right one gives a fair chance to complete your training . The wrong one,on the other hand gives an one way ticket back to your country .All in all failure rate this year is not by any means close to 50% .(approximately 120 expats had joined SV until late June) People in the training are very helpful and willing to assist all the expats with their tasks as long as their culture and their way of thinking are totally understood.People with high ego and high temp forced to quit.people with a lower self esteem and better acting capabilities had no problem at all .its a long process mostly due to lack of IPs in the line training .6-7 months is an average time until the end of training,with huge gaps aftre the rating and the SO or the RH seat flights.

Alloha- Are you considering the line training? I understand people are coming through the training academy better these days.

I was referring to a particular group of 6 guys who joined last year of which only 3 remain.

@Mutt : does it mean Sv will fly twice a day to CDG ? or the 787 takes over the 777 ?
Regarding the training, the failure rate has been HUGE for the past 2 months. But Alloha summed up it very well. It's all about attitude ( and a lot of studies ).

I'm assuming that it will take over from the 777 as they already have two flights most days with one to Riyadh.

:( ok. Thanks for the reply !

Hammock: In my opinion the training is both stressful and tough and add to that; very long. It goes for 5 to 8 months and you need to meet standards at every stage, it is by no means a formality. I imagine that training is now more streamlined than it was as alloha appears to be more up to date than me and his view is that the failure rate is now less than 50%. Even so I doubt that many more than 50% who start today will still be in Saudia on the 1st September 2016.

With some airlines if you enter as a direct entry Captain then it is a formality, that is definately not the case with Saudia.

SV training
 

Polax i am not only referring to the academy stage but line training as well. Certainly as you mentioned skippers training is not a formality. But things have changed.Still the most demanding training in the ME

SV Interview Day One
 

Hey everybody just a recap of day one SV interview. Twelve of us went to the Intercon Hotel this morning.We were met by the CP HR rep and a Airbus check airman.We were given an ATP 50 question multiple choice test. There are two exam tests.Followed by a 10 question 10 min apptitude test.We then turn in the required paperwork and waited for our time to interview. Mine lasted 30 mins and it was professional but friendly but not "laid back". I encourage you to study memory items and limitations on your specific aircraft.We all passed,and are waiting Day 2 for the medical and Day 3 for the sim ride..I'll update after those events...V

SV training
 

@Polax52 @alloha

Thanks for the info. Knowing that SV training are stressful, tough and long, however perhaps it's still manageable. Finger crossed!!!!

May I know the meaning of "the training now is more streamlined"? Does it means the training syllabus have been simplified?

Since you mentioned the instructors are helpful, hopefully the training atmosphere is more enjoyable and less tensed. Am I right?

Good day.

By more streamlined I simply mean that the scheduling is more efficient, the training materials are better and they have removed the requirement for the GACA ATP written test. Therefore you spend less time in the training centre.

It is manageable but it is a risk to leave a good widebody job to come to Saudia because there is a very real failure rate unlike many other direct entry commands.

I could believe that the failure rate is high but I think 50% rate is a bit exaggerated. What about the other middle east carriers ( EK OR EY)? Do they also have a high failure rate? Im not hijacking the subject but I think a comparison would be necessary in order to understand how risky the decision to join Saudia is.

As alloha has stated it is probably not 50% currently but it certainly has been as high as 50% in the recent past. I guess people know better what is expected now. Other middle East carriers do not have a high failure rate of direct entry Captains. I would guess that Saudi f/o's will not accept being bypassed in seniority by people who do not meet the standards that they have to meet during their 1 year long upgrade course.

Hello Polax,
Thank you for the clarification. I was actually thinking about the failure rate of first officers, not captains. Is this also high? And what is it compared to other middle east carriers?

I have not heard of any F/O failures. That doesn't mean there haven't been any but F/O's do not need to go up in front of GACA during line training, I'm not sure whether they do during sim. training or not.

GACA for FO
 

FO's have to go through GACA oral and GACA rating. The only difference with captains is that they have less sectors for line training and as polax said not GACA check during line training

No failures for FO's? This is good news! By the way I read in previous pages that the upgrade time for FO is really slow. What is the average time? Is it possible that they might accelerate command upgrades due to many aircraft orders?

Upgrades at Saudia for foreign Pilots are still a very rare occurrence. There may be plans to upgrade but you would have a very long seniority list ahead of you and then the upgrade course itself is 12 months, probably the longest in the industry.

Guys under evaluation now have served for 10 years!

Waiting list
 

Hello everyone, just got my confirmation e-mail to join! Does anyone know how long does it take to get all the paperwork done, visa and then get the ticket to go? I have been reading many of your post. Just don`t want to sound dumb or unaware,but , just simple question. As I imagine , this is the right place to do it!

Paperwork including visa should take about a month.

Once the offices reopen in two weeks time :):)

BM, It depends on which part of the world from. Anywhere from 1-3 months !

Thank you all you guys! There are a few guys from the same screening day that already got their joining date! But most of the group haven`t got any news so far!

Blue Macaw- Out of interest: How many got a joining date? Which types?

Hi guys,

I have been trying to aply to Saudia but everytime I try to log in it says I already have an account I have tried with 3 different e-mails I have tried to retrieve my password with 3 different e-mails and still it just says " the info you have entered is incorrect" my soul is broken trying to apply ha, can someone give an inside e-mail address i can e-mail to try resolve this issue or even a phone number to call them...? the PPJN number is out dated now,

Thanks Gents

Also can you commute home working with Saudia? what are the blocks of offs like?

A piece of advice
 

I had the same problem sometime ago, I tried many ways and I ended up getting all I needed from PCC Pilot Career Center. Check the website, there is the recruitment e-mail , that is how I got their attention ! Good luck!!

We were screened in the end of august ! About 60% of the guy for A 320 and 330 the rest of us to the B777. I got my ok on the first half of september. They asked me to send my availability to process the visa send the Job Offer. So far nothing yet. I guess things will be back to normal after the holidays. So, are you on the B 777? If so, how is it?

A320 DEC
 

Hi guys and girls,
I got the call for SV interview but need a bit of advise on
Pay end of month realistic ?
Commuting Rosters if available ?
Can anyone throw some light for me ?
Appreciate:confused::{:mad:

memoryitems:


It's not just you, I get PM's and e-mails from former colleagues asking exactly the same thing.


It can not have been more clearly stated: this is not in anyway a commuting or commutable job.


You get one block of 5 days per month, they can and will use you until midnight on the day before those days start and they'll have you in at 4 am after they finish. The block of days off is flexible to the company when operational requirements justify. Remember we are very short of Pilots and operational requirement has priority.


I like the job but please forget commuting, if you want to stay at home then find a job close to home. This job is in Saudia Arabia.


No more commuting questions!!!

I dont know if its 100% confirmed,but the recent road shows in Malaysia will bring to to JED more than 100 pilots.Mostly from MAS. Some people mentioned 140. And last but not least. SVA already is advertising vacancies for the 787 ( both captains and F/Os. Also it is the first time that the company states minimum requirements for command upgrade (3 years or 2000h). Of course its a bate. Upgrades will never take place before someone has a minimum of 9-10 years in the company. And we can only speculate as an expat upgrade has never happened before .
Also no more available vacancies on the 777 for F/Os with Airbus experience.Many complaints from local F/Os who are stacked on the 320 for 4-5 years.

Course they have, they have always upgraded FO's in accordance with their seniority, last group were from 747 Classic to Embraer, they even developed a program of right seat flying to get them proficient with the glass cockpit, some made, some didnt and returned to the Classic.

There are FO's on the A330 who have either undergone their upgrade evaluation or need to get their ATP written's done prior to the evaluation, so to say that it has never happened is unfair, BUT it has taken these guys 10 years for their seniority numbers to come up!

Apparently it was a cake walk for MAS guys. 15 min interview and medical ! That's it.

Yeah 60 guys from the B738 alone