Air Japan (AJX) B767
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Japan
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For those of you still interested in this contract you might like to know the latest. Since the catastrophic events that have affected Japan many of us have remained here working as normal. Some of our colleagues, for obvious reasons and with the Companies quasi-consent, have decided that the radiation risk is too high and have either stayed at home or returned to their domicile to await developments. The Company response has been two fold;
1. Those who want to leave or do not want to come back have been told that they can stay away on unpaid leave
2. Those who have stayed have been put on standby duties or blank days. If not prepared to stay in the Tokyo area they have been offered a free flight to Kansai, though all ground transportation, hotel charges and time involved in positioning are to be found by the crew member.
At the same time one of our fellow contracting airlines here in Japan is paying crew 'danger money' for helping out while the radiation threat is prevalent.
In the meantime PARC, our hardworking agency, has sent a mission to Japan to talk to ANA. Only through the detective work of one of our pilots was this secret mission brought to the attention of other crewmembers who then had to fight to organise a meeting with them which resulted in nothing! Many crew members are coming up to contract completion. Meanwhile we are in the invidious position of being mid-pay cut, which is now on hold, while the 'management' who have had a whole year to sort things out debate what needs to be done! Whilst the resentment grows in the contracting camp the Japanese mainline is losing almost 300 pilots per year, training about 50, trying to introduce a new aircraft type and start a LCC. I came from a mediocre job but would happily go back tomorrow to get away from this circus. The only good thing is that they are consistent just when you think the airline can't make things any worse the contracting company cuts your medical benefit or implies that your life insurance is invalid!
Happy days!!
1. Those who want to leave or do not want to come back have been told that they can stay away on unpaid leave
2. Those who have stayed have been put on standby duties or blank days. If not prepared to stay in the Tokyo area they have been offered a free flight to Kansai, though all ground transportation, hotel charges and time involved in positioning are to be found by the crew member.
At the same time one of our fellow contracting airlines here in Japan is paying crew 'danger money' for helping out while the radiation threat is prevalent.
In the meantime PARC, our hardworking agency, has sent a mission to Japan to talk to ANA. Only through the detective work of one of our pilots was this secret mission brought to the attention of other crewmembers who then had to fight to organise a meeting with them which resulted in nothing! Many crew members are coming up to contract completion. Meanwhile we are in the invidious position of being mid-pay cut, which is now on hold, while the 'management' who have had a whole year to sort things out debate what needs to be done! Whilst the resentment grows in the contracting camp the Japanese mainline is losing almost 300 pilots per year, training about 50, trying to introduce a new aircraft type and start a LCC. I came from a mediocre job but would happily go back tomorrow to get away from this circus. The only good thing is that they are consistent just when you think the airline can't make things any worse the contracting company cuts your medical benefit or implies that your life insurance is invalid!
Happy days!!
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: 日本
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organise a meeting with them which resulted in nothing
I agree the Company has had a year to sort this out and they've done absolutely nothing worth speaking about. They've fiddled with the freight schedules, allegedly to try and reduce fatigue but it has done absolutely nothing and that has been the extent of their work on the integration and problem solving
. They're so set in transiting through OKA with its ridiculous restrictions on landing times (so much for a 24 hour hub 
) that they'll never solve the problem of trying to link flights AND ensure proper scheduling. The ONLY way to do it will be to base pilots in OKA (not necessarily permanently but on a weekly basis, for instance) and run the flights that way. However, they won't do that because (a)they didn't think of it in the first place, so won't lose face by considering it and (b)they are programmed to go in a straight line and cannot contemplate deviating....even if they are heading for a cliff.The earthquake will now be used as an excuse for all delays and the failure to address the problems prior to it. They will continue to do their headless chicken act and make no decisions but now they can blame it on something they couldn’t control, so blamelessly passing the buck. The stupid thing is the earthquake has not affected any of the issues we had prior to it, so they’re not going to go away. It might seem selfish continuing to address those problems after such a catastrophic event but the wheel continues to turn. Guys will leave to go back to the States, others will go to other airlines in China etc if the deal is better (and even the Chinese are coming round to the idea of negotiating to attract) and those sitting on the fence will decide to stay at home if AJX don’t sort out the BIG stuff namely days off, money (with such a crap US$), scheduling (freighters) and commuting. This will, of course, lead to more scheduling problems etc and it becomes a self-sustaining, downward spiral. In the meantime we’ve got AJX ‘management’ staring rigidly at the headlights and unable to move because they are too scared to make decisions. They’ve already shown fantastic skills; a three month stay of execution for the existing freighter terms and conditions. Well whoppeee. What are they going to do next? Will they sort out the list of snags and restore the Company to where it was i.e. the best contract out? No, they’ll try extending again and again until they eventually piss everybody off so much that they do go back to the States, go to China, go to KAL etc .
Dogtired asked how the recent events have affected things in ANA. Well, the truth is they haven’t affected things very much at all. It is very true that pax numbers are down and they might be curtailing a few flights but they’ll start swinging back up once the foreign governments realise that it’s not as bad as they initially thought (and especially once they get the power station sorted out). My freight loads have been pretty normal and I’ve certainly not heard of others saying anything to the contrary. So we do have to ask ourselves how far we’re going to let the earthquake be used as an excuse for failing to sort out the pressing issues we had prior to it.
Meanwhile, to those considering coming, I say ‘wait’. Do not come here at the moment when there is so much indecision and change, as you might be signing up for a deal that could be quite different in the future. Hopefully they’ll get their act together, listen to what the contract agencies are telling them (as well as ‘us’ more vocal pilots on the line) and make things a LOT better and return it to the best contract job. If they don’t then stay in your own country and avoid having to deal with crap US$ rates, bad rostering for freight flying and the deterioration in the time you do get to spend at home.
Never thought I’d say that
Join Date: May 2010
Location: not here
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freight the mate
"what he said"
parc did what they could.
i was there, and appreciate their input, time and effort.
japan is in a bad way; ajx, for its part, is in a very tender position.
it could go either way right now.
no downramping needed.
it's all true.
ask yourself if you need to be a part of that.
kudos to those who are here.
parc did what they could.
i was there, and appreciate their input, time and effort.
japan is in a bad way; ajx, for its part, is in a very tender position.
it could go either way right now.
no downramping needed.
it's all true.
ask yourself if you need to be a part of that.
kudos to those who are here.
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: 日本
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I'm not so sure TD. There's only one serious player that's moved on, the rest were inconsequential. I would have loved to have seen a certain potato-type person out of the equation, as he's still far too involved, too influential and too set in his own little agenda to do any good where he is, no matter how he might have been sidelined with a different desk position.
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: 66º NORTH
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Hi guys,
An European guy. My question is for those fellow Europeans working for ANA/AJX cmmuting from Japan back to Europe.
How is the experience on the commuting? Is that really bearable? How long you think you can do that before you go crazy by the jet-lag???
Any answer is welcome fellows,
Thanks.
An European guy. My question is for those fellow Europeans working for ANA/AJX cmmuting from Japan back to Europe.
How is the experience on the commuting? Is that really bearable? How long you think you can do that before you go crazy by the jet-lag???
Any answer is welcome fellows,
Thanks.
Join Date: Jun 1996
Location: Check with Ops
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Please excuse me if there is a previous post regarding this.
Because your contract is completely different to the (former) AJV and (current) AJX, you'll need to start a new thread to attract answers in the appropriate place.
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Tokyo
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All interested in AJX and Qantas crew offered leave without pay for up to three years.
1. The compnay are doing their best to look after us.
2. They schedule realistic and reasonable duties. They are even seeking flight crew members from other airlines to assist us. The are generous enough to make sure they pay them less than us!
3. Days off are granted with polite appreciation.
4. Morale is at an all time high.
5. The salary is commensurate with skill and experience and global standards.
6. The pension scheme is flourishing with increasing contributions.
7. The company are sincere and honest in all of their dealings with us and work hand in hand with the contract agencies.
8. The prospects for a the future are bright and positive.
9. The USD is increasing in value.
10. The company have a compensation scheme that covers currency fluctuations!
11. There is no radiation in the air, the water, the food, anywhere!
12. The deadheading is kept to an absolute minimum.
13. Nobody had left or in planning to leave.
14. Everyone is re-signing contracts that have improving conditions.
15. The combination of freight and passngers was seemless with everyone very satisfied with results.
16. AJX has great strategic management and will achieve their goal of being No 1 in Asia!
If you believe any of this, you must be from AJX management!
1. The compnay are doing their best to look after us.
2. They schedule realistic and reasonable duties. They are even seeking flight crew members from other airlines to assist us. The are generous enough to make sure they pay them less than us!
3. Days off are granted with polite appreciation.
4. Morale is at an all time high.
5. The salary is commensurate with skill and experience and global standards.
6. The pension scheme is flourishing with increasing contributions.
7. The company are sincere and honest in all of their dealings with us and work hand in hand with the contract agencies.
8. The prospects for a the future are bright and positive.
9. The USD is increasing in value.
10. The company have a compensation scheme that covers currency fluctuations!
11. There is no radiation in the air, the water, the food, anywhere!
12. The deadheading is kept to an absolute minimum.
13. Nobody had left or in planning to leave.
14. Everyone is re-signing contracts that have improving conditions.
15. The combination of freight and passngers was seemless with everyone very satisfied with results.
16. AJX has great strategic management and will achieve their goal of being No 1 in Asia!
If you believe any of this, you must be from AJX management!
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: just around the corner
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Hi Fratemate
I am looking at joining AJX but want too know, when you get yours days off 11 days ? right . Can I have them as last 11 of the month and first 11 of the next month. ie 22 days straight.
Furthermore is command on the 767 still 3 yrs and are there any plans to re equip the fleet as ANA are getting the 787
YR
I am looking at joining AJX but want too know, when you get yours days off 11 days ? right . Can I have them as last 11 of the month and first 11 of the next month. ie 22 days straight.
Furthermore is command on the 767 still 3 yrs and are there any plans to re equip the fleet as ANA are getting the 787
YR
Join Date: Aug 2010
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Facts...
First of all, it is NOT 11 days off anymore. After the AJV contract was cancelled, everyone starts as an AJX pilot with - you guessed it 10 days off now. So those 22 days off are now 20, with a day to commute on each end makes it 18! Still want to apply here? Ok wait theres more, the upgrade to command time is now 5+ years, this came DIRECTLY from a management pilot. Still want to apply?? In my entire aviation career, I have NEVER had worse, more fatiguing rosters than we have here now. The majority of pilots here are looking elsewhere for new work. I suggest anyone thinking of applying here do the same.
-Dextir
-Dextir
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Over the Pacific mostly
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Hello YR
There are ten days off as stated before and yes, you can do back to back duties and days off although most people try it just to go back to taking days off within the same month; all the days off in a row is very nice but all the duty in a row (six weeks) is a kick in the pants. many people take their annual leave two days per month and use those to commute since you do commute on your time and then do back to back days off (once a year) for family vacation.
If you come here expect to fly the 767 because that will be it, the nearest that we will EVER get to the 787 is if we are parked beside it and expect to complete your contract on the seat that you were hired on.
There are ten days off as stated before and yes, you can do back to back duties and days off although most people try it just to go back to taking days off within the same month; all the days off in a row is very nice but all the duty in a row (six weeks) is a kick in the pants. many people take their annual leave two days per month and use those to commute since you do commute on your time and then do back to back days off (once a year) for family vacation.
If you come here expect to fly the 767 because that will be it, the nearest that we will EVER get to the 787 is if we are parked beside it and expect to complete your contract on the seat that you were hired on.
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: some dive
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going to the sandpit instead.