get the feeling its all put on hold.hard to find suitable candidates.Maybe looking for another solution....me just guessing:)

Is there anyone left out there??
 

Word is that the next couple of courses have been cancelled due to a lack of suitable applicants/candidates.
Company is looking to hire mainly F/O's, too many captains around. Seems like the F/O with the experience required to join is very scarce or NOT prepared to work for the salary on offer.
Methinks an increase in salary will see an increase in applications.:E:E:E
Now is the time to sit on hands and wait and see if things will change (hopefully for the better):confused::confused:

Hi Ishi59,
A mate of mine working up there, was saying something about a rumour going around about a $3000 payrsie for skippers and $2000 for F/O about to be announced by a Potato somebody!!?!? in the next few weeks to try to attract more people to apply.....any truth to these rumours??
If it's true that would nearly start to get some of the guys over here to start to have a look, especialy now with the business class travel!?!? Not sure if he was referring to the pax or freight side or both??

That means what? Announcement on wage increase sometime in mid-Jan?

Then the months of Jan/Feb to recruit with a March class?

Capt Coco.

Seeing this is a rumour network, it's good to see rumours like that around.

Time will tell if this is a rumour with some substance or just wishful thinking.

ana767
 

Greetings
Happy new year.
I know the Japanese physicals are very detailed, and I am sure there are threads on the:) subject, but what is the age limit? It sounds like a considerable amount of crew were not rated on the aircraft, is this correct.?

I am sure these questions have been asked before, so forgive me if I missed that part.

X man

Straight off the Precis' and Terms they emailed me, "Age not over 55 at time of commencement."

If you want the full terms and conditions, email me at [email protected]

Sorry,,, forgot to answer your other questions. Yes, they are taking non-type-rated pilots for both seats. However, as previously mentioned, they're having a difficult time finding qualified personnel who can make the culture transition and also have the skills to survive a 7 month training marathon, specifically at the price they are paying with the devalued U.S. dollar and time off schedule.

As a friend of mine said, "It's not a sprint, it's an endurance race. Psychologically plan accordingly every single day."

Lastly, the medical. It wasn't that hard, although my eye doctor was a bit of a bonehead which required me to have exams redone. Twice. No big deal.
General Chem 20 blood analysis, look for major issues, diseases, etc. Basically if you can pass a good life insurance exam without any major flags, you have good hearing and eyesight, and you're not on the edge of flipping out psychologicall (both a psychologist and psychiatrist get to pick at you, including the 553 question FULL MMPI battery of tests), you'll be fine.
Good luck!

I thoroughly enjoyed the trip over and meeting the ANA folks. They were actually very warm and friendly (for the Japanese) after the sim and interview were done. Two guys even made a joke with me, very nice guys, I think I'd enjoy being in the sim if they were instructors... but I digress.

I have a comment for Mcguru...
The facts speak for themselves mate...if you have that amount of failure rate..with HIGHLY EXPERIENCED GUYS...then its not the crews who are not standard. Some guys may have flown a different type than before and need a bit extra...some are familiar and may be fast tracked....you have to be flexible with the learning environment. If your failing that many guys, its the company or the training that has the problem. Also...if your into a guy for 6 months...and they have moved all the way across the planet for you, you have a commitment to them. You owe them. Otherwise, you don't deserve anyones time. Its obvious they are committed, no? So .. its time to grow up and treat everyone like professionals. This is training...not a grade school exam. There is no place for Asian DO or DIE memorization and training in this profession. Time to move to the western front of progressiveness.

Give it some time Lear. You'll find the Japanese are absolute masters at passive aggresive behaviour. Once you are in it thick you'll find a knife in your back and the person who put it there smiling politely at you. Just a few words of advise: Never Ever open up to them or tell them anything they could conceivably use against you in the near or distant future. Remember that everything and I mean everything gets written down and will be used against you if the need arrises. Despite their outward behaviour the ANA pilots don't want foreigners at their company. If they say otherwise they are lying to you. Get used to that to, they will lie to you and not feel shame for it. Just cover your butt and as long as you like flying, do that and then go home to your family.

Before you ask, I am a current contract pilot flying for a Japanese company and plan to be till retirement. I don't have any axes to grind, I just figured out the truth and made peace with the reality of flying here.

Later,

As opposed to the heart warming rolling of the red carpet we would give a foreign pilot force here in the US If the circumstances where reversed?

So all things considered (politics like in any other job) is not too bad of a gig, is what you are saying. Since dispite of your comment, you will stick around long term
There I agree with you. Just do your duty, stay away from the politics and you will enjoy the gig

Absolutely right Dominican. I think of how any pilot in the U.S. would treat foreigners coming over and taking our jobs and I would give an even cooler reception. As their union rules are set up contract flying is allowed and given the state of their general aviation (ie. future airline pilot pipeline) it's a neccessity even though they don't like it. So I totally understand their attitude towards non-Japanese, just a warning to Lear who may be going into it with a little too much naivete'.

I'm here because I like it in Japan, speak the language and get along well. I just let the insults and such slide off and use my Gaijin license when needed and things usually turn out right. This can be a great gig if you go into it with the "right" attitude but can drive some to suicide or homicide otherwise.

Good Luck!

Okinawa base
 

Dear all,

I was told JP Express is gonna move its base to Naha, Okinawa in 2009. Does that mean you folks who fly for them would spend more time in Naha, instead of NRT or KIX? I wouldn't mind living in Okinawa which is quite different from other Japanese cities I have visited before. I wonder I should join you guys in next year...

Safe flight,

AR

Don't know why your post disappeared,,,

Yes, there are AJX uncorrected vision restrictions, I believe it's 20/80.

I got a long packet on JUST the vision restrictions (in English), but it wasn't an electronic document and I can't find the goofy thing. If you really need it, I'll look harder, but your recruiter should have that information handily available.

They're really big on "field of vision" which is an irritating test right after they've dialated your eyes. Make SURE you tell the doctor that you would like to do the field of vision and other tests FIRST, before your eyes are dialated, so you're not blinking from the burning crap they put in them, have dialated pupils, then miss some of the vision field lights (had to retake mine because of this).

Incidentally, I'm not headed over. Long story...

I'm told that there will NOT be any more CA slots for AJX for some time to come, all upgrades will come internally, although with no one taking the F/O slots on the renumeration package they have, I don't know how that's possible...

Good luck to all who apply!

Lear70,

Thanks for the input. I had my half-Japanese wife attempt to translate the vision requirements on the Japanese medical standards link. It appears that it is an either/or deal, although some info may be lost in translation.

Basically, for nearsightedness, it says:

Either uncorrected in each eye at 0.7, or with both eyes at 1.0. (I believe this standard for measuring is common in Asia, perhaps even Europe, with 20/20 being 0.5, so this is probably equal to approx 20/80).

Or, corrected with prescription/concavity not greater than -8.0 diopters.

I'll ask the recriuter if I get called. I don't have the time to apply for command, so I'll still try for FO. I'm sure you have good reasons for your decision to not head over. Best wishes.

Thanks to all.

--Jepp

Good luck to you.

For me, it wasn't my choice, it was theirs.

I was waiting and received an email from the recruiter that said all slots were filled for the January class and, even though I passed all the testing, I was not selected. Additionally, there will be no further Command classes in the foreseeable future, therefore my application will not be retained. I am welcome to apply for future openings.

Very bummed out... such is life. The F/O pay would have to come up to what CA pay is right now to draw me away from the states. I can make $75k and be home 12 days or so a month right now here in the states; can't imagine making a 7 month training commitment away from family PLUS huge chunks of time away during rotations for roughly the same thing I make now.

They were very nice to work with and, although their decision puzzles me, it's their airline, so I guess they can do with it what they want. :}

Good luck!

There is an extensive list of the Japanese medical requirements in English at

http://japanpilots.19.forumer.com/viewforum.php?f=23

At the top, click on Sticky: Japan Aeromedical Information in English

gents, where would you find more information about ajx and ajv to prepare for the interview. it seems impossible to get more details if you are unfamiliar with the japanese language. only thing out there seems to be wiki and its links...short note on ana skyweb...not very much though!
any more on this?

There's a little info posted at http://japanpilots.19.forumer.com/viewforum.php?f=3

Well, first off, you *SHOULD* have received a packet that goes through the complete sim profile from beginning to end.

As for everything else, send me an email, I did a complete rundown on the entire process from beginning of Japan trip to end of Japan trip with technical questions, etc for IAC to use for their future candidates. I'm sure some of the tech questions change from interview to interview, but most of it is applicable.

[email protected]

p.s. for the technical stuff, they usually have only one or two questions but they're in-depth stuff, such as "Discuss EGPWS, how it began, how it has evolved, and what systems the newest generation of EGPWS interfaces with", or "Discuss inertial navigation, how it works, and how it interfaces with GPS and VOR navigation".

No, I'm not kidding.

And also read this thread from the start, there are quite a few experinces posted here (including mine) Good luck