Air Baltic
 

I hope I am in the correct forum.

I have an interview with the said company as a direct entry FO on the 737.

Does anybody have any information regarding this carrier, salary, terms and conditions etc ? I have looked at PPJN and it does not look too pretty, but I guess the same could be said of many airlines.

Thanks

JAS

Winglet80, thanks for the response you have gone a long way to easing my mind. I'm sure that the company is only going to improve and expand in the future.

To be honest, this is my first interview for a pilot position and I am some what nervous and not sure what to expect, but looking forward to it at the same time. I'm studying hard going through the 737 systems and limitations etc is this the best plan?

The way I see it is that it would be a great first job and a fantastic place to gain valuable experience.

Can you spare any further information about the airline that might be useful before the interview?

Money is not too much of an issue, I am not flying to become rich, but what is the roster like?

Cheers

JAS

Do not worry, I have been working on those tests for some time now, that is just what I wanted to hear :}
How about the ops and general aviation tests? I have been looking into principals of flight etc for this.

Slightly concerned about the technical interview, should be fun.

Are there many pilots from the U.K. with Air Baltic?
Thanks
JAS

Has anyone got a job at airbaltic without a typerating?

People get hired for the Fokker-50 without a typerating but I´m pretty sure you need a rating to get on the 737. I just got hired on the F-50 with no rating. I think it looks like a great place to work but then again I´m not all that picky, just happy to get in the air again.

ok, thanks for the info. I have applied to them but no answer yet. Do you know when they are going to hire again?

I failed the interview at westair sweden so I am desperate for a job. I hope I will get an interview at airbaltic.

I have heard that Riga is not so cheap anymore. Can you afford a good living standard with you salary?


Tack igen för informationen.

Its good to see you here mr Winglet, but enough about rosters and payment. Hows the clubbing!:}
J. says hello
D.

As a last alternative, maybe..
 

I've desided not to sound like a "spoiled" scandinavian, so I will spear you the stories on quality of life. Latvia has the highest number of alcoholics per capita an for several good reasons. I'll leave it at that.:yuk:
The company has been to court three times agains pilots and lost every time. Several pilots have left the company with no job to go to. IF you want to relocate to Latvia, why not go for Latcharter. They are getting 2 new A320's this spring.

Airbaltic were telling us about this fantasic new roostering system they had bought in early 2005. :hmm: Guess they haven't gotten it yet!?
What you will want to now in advance is that roostering is a problem. They will put 19 pilots on standby to cover one flight rather than give days off, so that you use your holidays when ever you want to have days off. (December 25,27 and 29 2005 to name a few dates)
They will deduct things from your salary without asking. If you get sick- your problem. One of the expats got hit by a car and did not get any pay for two months!
They will only pay you great circle distance X TAS from A to B. No other pay! 2600 after tax!? Yeah.. at year 2 on the 737 after working 90 block hours a month!
I am now working in the real world and am getting paid 3 times what I got at BT. Having lots of time off and a life! :)

What ever you deside, I wish you the best of luck!
Ps.. you might want to read up on your russian if you want to know what is going on when you fly in bt. ;)

I will like to give my comment to this as well!
I am working for airBaltic and have worked there for a year on the boeing.
airBaltic is a nice place to start your carreer and get some experience outside "the real world".
I have been very happy for getting the opportunity to really start my pilotcarreer here.
sallary is as already said 2100-3200 euroes per month after tax. at least on 737.
The salary has not been increased! but the company is looking into new contracts at the moment (maybe they have realized that the contracts we have now are not legal;) ). But it will probably take forever before anything happens. Most pilots are paid by a formula which includes greatcircle dist.
There are also many things which are not very good in AB. That is the reason why I think that pilots within the company should try to make things better. Because if we do not do it then nobody will. It is for sure that the company wount. Therefore I see no problem in pilots complaining about things as long as there are reasons for it. which I think there are very often!
I see nothing wrong in discusing things with the other pilots at "the irish pup" if you have been flying with a captain who should never had been a pilot and neverever a captain!
It is always very difficult to get the first job as a pilot. But when you have it and doors are opening then you should start expecting things from your company. Otherwise they will try to use you as much as possible and that goes endeed for AB. I have tried it many times so far:*
PS: could you please explain what you mean about "spoiled" FOs winglet80?
I really cant see it. If you are leaving your home country incl. family and work for a salary which you could have in your own country having some other job. then having a captain calling you an idiot because he does not know how to fly a full procedure approach and a company which basicly look the other way. I really cant see we are spoiled:confused:

I do not want to go into to many details on a public forum but people are of course welcome to send a PM.

Just my opinion:ok:


reagards

Why stay?
 

Winglet, I think you have found your ideal location. You seem to already have succumbed to the indoctrination into Eastern mentality. :} Watch out!
To give those of you who do not know this mentality an idea; In October 1941 Lavrentij Pavlovith Beria , NKVD chief, and member of the defence committee of the Soviet Union, received a report from one of the few remaining pilots of the Soviet Air force that a 20km long German panzer column was approaching Moscow, and had come to a halt only 170km from the city centre. Beria could not believe this, so he ordered another pilot to fly out and have another look. This pilot came back with the same report. Beria could still not believe it, and this time he ordered a pilot that had receive “extensive” recognisance training to take a look, and again the initial report was confirmed. – And here is where the eastern mentality kicked in – Beria then went to the next logical step, namely to arrest and execute the Air force squadron commander for inspiring panic!?? :uhoh:
Later (in 1945) Beria was promoted to field marshal of the Soviet Union.
One of the post holders and captains in bt, will tell you that Latvia was never occupied by the soviet union. It was in cooperation with Russia. This is the same guy that, after a report on a Captain that did not advance the power levers to T/O power until the aircraft had passed the last of the high speed exits, resulting in rotation within the last hundred meters of the RWY! – Sent an email to all of the local captains to see if they could muster up any irregularities on the F/O that wrote the report. As he did not receive any negative feedback he wrote a reply to the report stating that the F/O did not understand the subordination principles of the aviation industry, and such actions as taken by the captain where “captains discretion” :yuk: :ugh:
I have countless stories, but what I am wanting to say is that there are so many jobs out there now, and I personally know that there are many pilots in bt that are more than qualified for them. (Subject to them not having lowered their personal standards) :ooh:
There is no reason to start your career flying with captains that should not even have a license!
I know that were you come from Winglet, companies ARE taking in guys with no experience and paying for their T/P ratings – be it on F50 or ATPs. Five guys are starting on the F50 in a week from now. The salary is double of what I made in bt, and the captains teach you something worth knowing! They know procedures and laws and more importantly they follow them! Technical problems are addressed, not ridiculed.:D And the company would not repeat mantras like “no room for individuals, we are working for the BIG picture” and “ aviation is a risky business!”
If you have to wait at the airport for more than 4 hours they will give you a hotel room, not make you spend the night in the aircraft like bt does in St. Petersburg.
As far as what you said about the bond – bonds are illegal, so is the contract bt issues. It does not follow EU law, nor does it fit Latvian labour law (see http://www.vdi.lv/admin/files/LabourLaw.pdf and please pay attention to Chapter 12 section 45 and Chapter 17 section 62):8
But for the 15000 Euros they charge you, you could get an A320 rating on a JAA license.
The one bt gives you is limited to bt ONLY until you have 500 hours on type and have completed a new skill test with a JAA examiner.

With regards to you comments on making changes, YOU cannot make any changes.:= The pilot union could… but as you may know, they do nothing (and some say that is what they are paid for) Bt will give you illusions of great things to come! And you may choose to run after this “luft schloss” but you could, and I urge you to consider, leaving and applying for other jobs. It would be what is known as voting with your feet. I did, and it took me three months to get rid of the bad habits I picked up at bt, and the Russian accent to my English -you know what I mean Jaa? It is normal, donnnt wooory! :mad:

In my new job I make 4740 Euros after tax :O and work 16-17 days a month.
Good luck to all of you! There are no offences intended by this post, I hope none were taken.
Happy landing – you never know when you need it :ok:

Its simple for me, I'm in a situation where I can not be picky and choose where I want to fly. I have to work in order to enjoy this privilege later on in my career.

Air baltic may not be the greatest company on earth, but wherever I have worked in the aviation industry (including one of the best airlines in the U.K.) pilots are not happy and have something to complain about.... its human nature to do so.

Now I may not get the chance to work for AB, they may not even invite me to the sim stage, but if I were to be offered a contract on the 737, I would bite their hands off.

I'm sure AB will be a very good place for me to fly for the first time and build experience so I can then move on to bigger and better things.

The rosters may be dodgy (they seem to be at most airlines), the pay may not be great and some of the Captains MAY be a little sharp as described above? But it is money and experience in the bank and also heaps of good time in the log book.

Winglet, can you give me any advice regarding living, accommodation, cars etc ?

Urgent!
anyone have any useful tips what to expect on interview with airbaltic?
Any tips would be greatly apprichiated!
:eek:

ILSTOMIN
I see that you are norwegian, if you can read danish try this:
http://www.pilots.dk/forum/topic.asp...rms=air,baltic
I´ve got an interview as well. Does anybody know what the technical interview with instructors is about. I haven´t seen being discussed anywhere ?
Thanks

Interview
 

There is a book called "how to ace the technical interview", it has helped me out alot. There is also a new version of the "from power on to power off" at SAS flight Academy that is REALLY good.
When I did my tests with them I didn't do a single one of their math questions (could not be bothered, just "clicked" through them)- and they told me later that my test results (total score) were amongst the best they had had!? Well if you choose to do the q's the program that they use for testing has windows 95 or 98 running in the back ground. Pushing ALT + TAB will let you open a window that has Accessories, there you can use the calculator :)

For the tech questions try http://www.smartcockpit.com

Winglet80 - You crack me up! PM me if you want any tips on other good jobs ;)
Obviously things are looking better then when I was there. I had a russian guy in a leather jacket come around and collect the rent in cash (euros) every month.
Make sure you get good insurance! The hospitals are freakishly bad! We had a german guy fall out of a 737 (don't ask me how) and the doc's did not even examin him. They just gave him a hand full of pills and told him to go back to work. He went back to germany and they put his arm in a cast and the guy could hardly walk! (nothing to do with the cast) :ooh:

The insurance bt gives you only covers around 1000 USD a year! But that will get you quite far in a Latvian hospital.

Good luck guys!
Ps. winglet-yes I would have gotten the other job without bt. It is not considered a good thing to have a lot of time in bt on your CV. :(

Sim stage here I come :}

Getting nervous already :eek:

Winglet80 please check your pm's.

First of all thanks to great advises here on pprune.
I passed "phase 1" interview with Airbaltic, my simulator session is coming up soon, and I would really apprichiate help/knowledge what to expect, what kinda sid/star/appr. we are going to do... Or any other things that might help a nervous pilot out...

Thanks !!!

:ok:

Well done on getting through :ok:

I'm having my sim check on Thursday so I am in the same situation.

Basically it is a Cessna based IFR sim and they are going to check our basic flying. Not sure what to expect, working using RANT at the minute :} Expect some maths questions etc to be asked of us during the session.

I would have preferd a 737 check over this Cessna set up, I would know what to prepare for then :ugh:

I never did the sim myself but I know the 3 FOs who normaly do all the testing.
As mentioned they are checking your basic flyingskills so no previous preparation is required.
I think you will have a SID and then some airwork(turns etc.)
Intercept of radials, QDM/R. some questions during the flight and then an ILS.
I am not sure if they will give you an enginefailure. They might just kill one of the engines to see if you can do the approach SE.

So keep your focus on flying the a/c and then take it easy with questions etc.

good luck.........and remember it is fun to fly;)

Does anyone have the phone number to Airbaltics human resources department.

Try this:

Guna Kalnina, recruitment coordinator, tel.: +371 7207116

thank you!

airBaltic rostering?
 

Any news regarding the airBaltic rostering system? Will there be any improvement over the current 5/2 system?

I have just checked my last 3 shedules (1,5 month) and it has been 5/2 5/3. I think you should expect that for some time. But then they might need you to fly some more during the summerschedule.
rgds.;)

I am not sure about the schedule for the F50 pilots.

hi all.
I have been lucky enough to get invited to a testday at AirBaltic.
Does anyone know what to expect and what to prepare for ???
I guess a lot of the questions in the written test is similar to those on 737.org but how detailed is the technical inteview ????
Cheers all

hi topper!

May i ask what your hours are (roughly)?, just to get an idea of what they are asking for. Or if you know from others you may have met there.

Thanks in advance!

Don't worry about hours. Many who have recently started on the 737 bring around 250 hrs in the logbook and just finished their ratings.
The questions are similar to a type rating exam multiple choice. Few are a bit tricky, few are quite simple. Just as a hint from my side:
- Study the airconditioning system a bit, esp. switch position for bleeds on/off takeoff
- Take a glance at the emergency exit lights, what powers them, what happens if some of the elec power is lost,
- Look at the elec system roughly, you dont need to be an expert but as i recall there were some questions (look at the power sources for the stby busses...)
- Isolation valve, how operated, what is electrical, what is pneumatic
- Fuel pumps, AC or DC powered
- Fire Detection and Extinguishing system....what is DC powered, what is AC powered

If you run into troubles during the questionnaire, just as a hint, try to analyze by yourself what is really needed in an emergency or abnormal situation and what power sources are needed to run. It helps once in a while to differ between AC and DC powered systems.
Take a look at the flows (no matter how you learned it), it gives you a picture about normal switch positions and when they are used.

And BTW, we run short of 737 pilots with rating (as far as i know) and the pile of rated people is decreasing, the number of aircraft and routes increasing.

Hope that helped a bit :E
Best Luck, hb

Aiaiai
 

Ah yes the lovely March schedule. How I loved it.
But April brings us some nasty suprises doesn´t ey?

hbiwe

thanks for your hints!
anyways i were asking about the hours because i dont have a tr on the 737 nor am i planning to get one (at least SS) so i would like to know what hours do people have those getting a job on the F50.
thanks in advance to those who may answer the question!

Recent jobs on the F50 has been given to pilots with limited experience, but in the region between 400-1500 hours.. Don't expect to be invited if you haven't got a 737 TR og atleast some experience.. But give them a try anyway, you've everything to win and nothing to lose...

Good luck
/BAP

Enjoy
 

Folks, a mate worked for AB a while back, he ahad a great time, said it was the best flying hes ever had, so anyone lucky enuf to get a contract....go for it any enjoy:ok:

Sounds good, I'm sure I will enjoy it too :ok:

Guys, Guys, Guys

Are you drunk or stupid or what? Listen to what flying eagle and black coffe no sugar says. This outfit will hire next to none experience co-pilots and let them do the work of a line training captain, training captains!!!

VHF1, If your friend was working there a while ago and found it soooooo good, then why the hell did he leave? VHF1 are you BT management or plain stupid, or both? (it is combinable, I've been told)

The story that I have heard is that ALL experienced co-pilots are leaving because of horrible rostering, statsi management and the fact that they are tired of risking their certificates flying with those no-good
kamikazes (apparently there are quite a few exeptions). I have heard that app 10-12 have left or will leave and that's out of 25-30. Yes, that is some where around one third possibly half of the co-pilots on the 737!!
I doubt that it's because it's so good there.

That's what I've heard from a friend of MINE who actually WORKED THERE and left because of the above mentioned reasons.

There are plenty of other opportunitys out there, don't go make your self black listed to the rest of the industry

SF

Wooops!

Sorry vhf1, just checked your profile. But your friend must be drunk:}

I know my friend is:ok:

Drunk Vs stupid
 

My dear Mr. splitflaps,

No is the answer to your question, Im neither drunk nor stupid. I stand over what I wrote in my earlier post, that a friend worked for AB and enjoyed it. You ask why he left, well try a winter in minus 30 and you wont be asking the same question next spring. It was his first job and got his hours up and back to the U.K. to a major. I still say gofly and enjoy...This is JAA land, there are mechanisms with which to sort out non standard/ dangerous practices. I strongly urge anyone involved in such to use the system to rid the industry of these mavericks..if indeed they still exist.

Just for the record, I am not AB management, nor have I ever worked for them, in any capacity whatsoever.

Regards.

VHF1

So if he worked for AB that must have been Air Berlin then, since Air Baltic would be BT :} sorry, couldn't hold back that one... excusez moi :E.

Yep, April already has it's ups and downs...desperate times are ahead. From all the Pro's and Con's comments, take it in the middle and that's what you get. The grass is always greener somewhere else...

No where is perfect, lets not get too carried away.
I'm looking at BT as the perfect first job and will move onto (hopefully) bigger and better things later on, but as a lower houred guy there simply ARE not that many jobs out there...... some of us can not be picky.
As long as the aircraft are safe, things are legal and I get paid in line with my position, I will be happy to take the rough with the smooth.
BT seem to be trying to improve and it depends on the way you look at the situation. Some people seem happy, some are not..... that's just life.

hehe........

Nice to see so many different point of views.

I have allready stated my considerations about BT and I have tried not to descripe it to personal.

Working for BT is off course good as a first FO position. Thats it!
But I only think that a few pilots can see them self working in easteurope for an easteuropean company for a longer time.
I will always think positive about BT after I am finishing here (I have 2 weeks left :} )
But that is because it was my 1st airlinejob and due to very nice foreign FOs.

Yes things are improving. At least that is what I am telling myself! But mentality is different and things take a long time. I am not planning to waist my time seeing it through!

For you new Fos starting I wish you the best and enjoy the time. Use the other FOs if you have questions (operational, personal etc) . We are all in the same situation. You can be sure that a lot of the FOs know more about the A/C, IFR procedures etc........ than the captains.

happy nightflying to Baku, Tblisi and Telaviv ;)

regards
Mikkel

Thanks Flying Eagle.

If anyone had told me I would have my first paid flying position as a 737 FO I would have thought them crazy, so I'm delighted just to be here.

I couldn't get those varied destinations flying from the U.K., I can't wait ........... although I'm sure the novelty will wear off lol

I'm grateful to BT for giving me the chance others would not.

Winglet80.

Everybody is entitled to their own opinion and I am happy for you as you seems to like your situation. I have read your posts and I find it hard to believe that you are Swedish, you don't have a very scandinavian attitude towards the prloblems that people is writing about. If you are Swedish you would understand some Danish as well and I urge you to have a look at the danish pilot forums. This forum is not in english so people who are cereful about speaking their mind ( remember the Russian airforce guy from a previous post?) dare to be a litle more specific and out spoken.

I have been stunned more than once when I have talked to my friend in BT (whom I have known for 15 years and did my pilot training with). The keywords in BT seems to be submission. We are pilots for christs sake if you as a co-pilot don't say no when the captain is doing something stupid ( and after all the stories that I have heard it seems to be every other flight) then who will, the pax in 14c? submission can be very dangerous.
Especially in a company that seems to have substandard captains ( as my friend put it, a lot of them is really good but the lowest standard is terribly low). Flight dispatch seems to be glitching too, and have very high expectations on the pilots accepting questionable planes. dangerous if nobody dares to say no.

Negative points is another interesting thing that really cracked me up. I just couln't believe what i heard.:eek:

Having heard all the stories (all true i am sure) I urge you guys to listen to flying eagle. DO talk to each other about the situation, it is not whining.

Having said that. Of course BT is an exellent first job. Lots of exciting destinations, a fair amount of flying and excellent social life. I have witnesed that myself, in riga and I do have that T-shirt. I know nothing about Vilnius. But it seems to me that you shouldn't waste your time there, in BT that is.

Finally. Why don't any of the present or previous pilots post here? why is it always a friend? or a friend of a friend. A couple of reasons me think. The following employer (s) will ofcourse look at your cv...bla, bla
It's not a good thing to have worked for a bad airline so keep quiet.
Second I have heard that BT management is pretty good on bad mouthing previous employees even if they have done a good job! can't see why they would be nicer if the employee has stirred up things and started rumours. If a former or present BT pilot wuold write something here it would not really be a rumour, more like facts. When a friend posts (and all pilots likes to have the best stories) it's only a rumour, hence the name of this brilliant page. Every thing here should ofcourse be treated as a romour, but where there's smoke there's fire!

To all of you guys who has just landed a job there, the warmest of gratulations. As always in the aviation world, do speak up if some thing seems fishy. This is expected of you once you get a job in a real airline.
Best of luck