Absolutely, a question for you about vacation. If you get 24 days a year and take them in two separate blocks, will you have 2 months where you have 22 days off? (10 days off per contract + 12 days of vacation)

That's correct CRJ, they are pretty flexible with how you use your vacation days. Some guys take 2 days Vacation every month on top of their 10 days (11 days with AJV) to make at least 12 or 13 days off every month. Generally the leave is taken in 2 blocks of 12 though, and as you said, added to your days off but within reason you can request what you want.

How is ground school going for those just finished up with the air law course? Anyone else here of visa's may be forthcoming?

I remember them asking me if I planned on commuting or living in Japan in my interview, as well as mentioning something about visa. I believe that visa is in the same category of the possible space positive travel for commuting. Would be great and I am sure they are looking into it, but probably will not happen anytime soon.

The contract specifically requires that you commute. I would not make any decision based on anything other than that if it were me.

Any upcoming classes at AJX/V? Still waiting on word from the medical but I did talk to the psycologist and I stayed at a Holiday Inn express last night. Anyone using Slingbox to get their TV fix while in training, just wondering if it was worth the effort?

Jobear
by now a nail bitin' freak

Don't know for sure about upcoming classes, but they were doing another round of interviews last night as I was finishing up my sim session.

I have the slingbox connected to my TV back home and has sure made it nice. The only english TV in the hotel is CNN and BBC. So unless you are a news junkie or understand japanese, I would highly recommend it. The internet connection in the hotel is plenty fast enough for it to work smoothly.

Nail biting over I start the 23rd of July!!!

Congratulations. Did you get AJX or AJV?

Pax side, so I guess that is AJX? I have no idea which is which.

Classic... "I don't care, I'm just happy to be here!" :D

Seriously, congrats! I know you're gonna love the airplane. Did you ever figure out how you were going to handle the taxes & such?

Congrats Jobear.. I think you will really like it here.. My class and I are loving it so far..! See you around the training center!

BC

AJV Capt (that's the cargo side :)

Lear70
[Did you ever figure out how you were going to handle the taxes & such?]

That is what my money manager (er wife)does, no we looked at some of the stuff and EK and others were spot on go thru a non-american company to TRY and avoid taxes.

Which begs the question - try and avoid taxes, couldn't agree more, go for it!

What happens when your friendly IRS tax man decides to look at YOUR tax situation and realises you have paid NO tax ANYWHERE for the last XX years??

IF you reckon your bullet-proof (ie you've done your homework) you wouldn't be even giving this post another thought, if you've based all your in-depth-opinions and beliefs on bar talk and what other people pontificate on open internt forums, well - life could get interesting.

On a different note - great to see the positive outlook of the new arrivals to Japan, maybe the ANA group have moderated their way of doing business to everyone's benefit. Long may the positive vibes remain. :ok:

I fully expect to have to pay taxes, unless there is a country I can move to and hold a dual citizenship. :-)

How is the training in ANA ? is it compatable to western ways or is it more Eastern ways?

Congrats Joebear:ok: Will see you around the clubhouse since we are not taking the last checkride until August.

If you are already typed on another certificate and have time on the airframe, there is a shorter course in the training program that last about three months.
No time on the airframe or type (my case) it is six months with the first week or so of the ground school dedicated to the Japanese license (Air Law, Radio Law and engineering)
The ground school for systems is mostly computer based and self study with exams every week and discussion with the instructors and a final writen exam. After that you go to Fix Base Simulator for procedures training(two hour sessions) and Full flight Sim after that(four hour sessions). This period does not include OJT (IOE in the States) There are two checkrides, one for the type and another about a week later for the ATPL with more sims between the two.
After that you go home for three to four weeks and then you come back for a refresher sim and back to ground school for route training a few days (Airport diagrams, Release and operations paperwork, you know line oriented stuff) then you start OJT for a period of about two months and you do route training to all the airports you will operate on and you also get observed by a couple of the head guys and after you get the blessing from these folks then you get released to get your observation ride with JCAB. In a nutshell, that is how it goes.

Bonas dias Signor Domenican

Thanks for your information, where does candidates gets washed more in SIM or in OJT?

Mucho grazes!:rolleyes:

I have to give you an "A" for effort man:D

The candidates that have had problems strangely enough have been the folks that are already typed and have time on the airframe. Why? mostly because they haven't been able to de program old calls and procedures and ANA doesn't want to hear anything but their standard phraseology and procedures.
There is also a lot of enphasis on hand flying approaches prior to the IAF and visual patterns that have to be done to perfection for the type ride.
What is happening is that some of these folks have worked for outfits that rely too much on automation and they don't really fly the A/C and like I said before, their course is a lot shorter (half the time) combined with the fact that probably the 76 wasn't the last A/C they where flying and voila, a recipe for problems even for experienced drivers. You dig?

I was telling my partner that we where lucky upto a point for not having flown the contraption before because we are learning it their way from the get go

I think that if you get released for OJT you are pretty much good to go:ok:

Japanese Visa
 

Is a Japanese Visa required prior to arrival in Tyo for Groundschool or is it issued on arrival?

Does Crew or Parc handle help with you attaining it?

The crew leasing companies and ANA will arrange for you to be sent a Certificate of Eligability. You will forward that, along with your passport, to the Japanese Embassy or Consulate for them to issue you a trainee visa. If for some reason this does not happen, you will have to enter the country as a tourist and comply with the time restrictions of whatever your nationality may be. Assuming you are from Antigua (from your profile) you will require a visa either way since there is no visa waiver program between Antigua and Japan.

You will enter the country on your trainee visa until the completion of OJT. After that point, you will enter and depart the county on a crew-member's shore pass.

Thanks Crj 705 I guess i gotta get cracking on that visa then. Thanks for the info very very helpful

Schedule
 

Hellow all.
Can any current AJV/Express Capt. or FO post or PM me the "actual" current schedule you guys have out of the 3 different airports in Tokyo? Anyone living in the states that is commuting right now care to share the Good,Bad and the Ugly? Thanks in advance.....

Signor Domenican

Boenas dias, comes tas?

when did you complete your OJT was that long ago or recent one? just to dig more info.
mucho grazes!!!:)

No, no. We just did lesson four of Full Flight Sim today. I'm about 4 months into it:)

Is there any difference in the way your application is processed if you apply through Parc, IAC, or Hawaii? Are your qualifications funnelled to Japan for them to decide who to invite for the interview, or does the screening take place at the contract company?

Lastly - what are competitive minimums to get an interview?

Thanks in advance,

jt

No difference in who you use as far as I know, I used Crew/HACS. The contracting agency will(should) screen your resume/application before they kick it over to AJX/V. I would say they decide based on your application if they want to see you, but then again I may(probably are) be wrong. I see the mins for an interview posted on all the contractors websites so I will say the 3,000tt is hard as is the requirement for a command type rating.

Good luck

This is correct. In Japan there is no SIC rating. Even as a F/O you will get a command type rating and then will recieve additional training on the right seat.
Judging by our class and the one following us, I would say that F/O competitive numbers are about 4 to 6 thousand and captain numbers are 8 thousand and up.
Having said that just APPLY if you are interested, It is difficult to know what they are looking for really and like I have said before, make sure you give them a good sence of who you are and why would you like to work here on the AutoBio. Don't leave this part unfilled, very important.

Good luck

ANA JP express
 

Hi Domenican
How is training going? Any difference in instruction method adopted by contract instructors and Japanese. Is it true that pass rate is better if trained by Japanese.

Hi Domenican

usually you are prompt with response, you must be busy with SIM.

Sorry it took me a while but my partner and I are getting close to our first check so it has been busy.

The company is pretty standard and the training is superviced by the ANA group but it really depends on who you get, a good instructor makes all the difference.
We have a very good Japanese instructor and are very happy with the results so far, some other guys are happy with the Alteon guys and others not so much.
As to In House vs. contract instructors? Well, I've read some comments here about how hard it was to have a Japanese instructor with a translator vs. a contract instructor, but our experience has been totally different.
Flying one of these contraptions in a company like ANA is as much about adopting and conforming to policies and procedures as it is about flying the thing so It begs the question. Who would you rather have? A fellow that was shown the policies and procedures and is identified by the Visitor's badge? Or one with an ANA badge with a low employee number on it, that helped shape the policies and procedures?

So many questions, so little time:hmm:

Nicely said Dom, I'll be at the duplex on the 21st. Anything you want me to bring from home drop me an e-mail, wifes and girl-friends won't fit in my kit. ;-)


Jobear

Hi 777

By no means intended to offend anyone, language error edited for better sounding.Rightly so,it is better to please them if you want to work for them.

Thanks for the offer in Europe, still enjoying Tokyo for now. Hoping to enjoy DXB by end of this year.
:ok:

OK birdcage I'll bite!

What exactly did you find so extraordinary that you have such a desire to pull out the racist card on middlepath??
Yes in his first post he mentioned "japs", I have heard when people have said I am flying with a "jap cap" today, not uncommon language.
There is no question anybody BUT japanese are gaijin in Japan. I believe (but more than happy to be eddified by superior intelligence as always) that this can be imparted anywhere from an observation to an acknowledgement to a stain on your parentage.
Offended as I could be I if I heard such i would not have the time to be wasted on crap like that, if you're a foreigner in Japan you ARE indeed a gaijin.

The concept works in reverse just as well regardind labelling - judicious use preferred.

Glad to know that there is SOMEONE out there who can accurately judge whether people will succeed or fail in their endevours - you obviously can (seeing as you're "out here" and apparently well entreanched as part of the ruling class/elite in Japanese aviation) as opposed to middlepath who isn't (whoops! sorry about that, sounds like he IS actually around Japan - but is he really???)

And to consign him to EUROPE?? - pleeeease, some mercy, at least send him to the antipodes where he would learn that Budwiser is CRAP (sorry if you missed that, CRAP beer) and at least have some relief from the pain of exile imposed by yourself by finding out what beer's all about!

Finally IF we ever cross paths and IF it was in TGIF's at SOME location I hope you would be a part of an aviation conversation - not preaching from the pulpit from the Good Book of "the thoughts of BC777!"

Cheers
galdian
PS: what was with your smilie: :8 WTF did THAT mean???

Small secret - the smilies are confusing but reckon a few of these :ok: allows you a lot of latitude is your discourse (you know, those lines that are like vertical but go in a different direction ??)
Cheers :ok::ok::ok::ok::ok:

Well "Mate" maybe I need a few more beers to understand your response, and maybe you need to get out more and write / judge less..

As our friend changed his post thus making it not racist, I have removed mine..

As far as preaching from my book, "Mate" I gave that up a long time ago when my first instructor from the land down under explained how y'all are genetically surperior in the aviation field.. It is your book from which we all can learn right?? After all, even the mighty QANTAS has never had a hull-loss..! As far as meeting for an "aviation conversation", dude, when I go to a bar, I do not talk about airplanes...

Gotta go, time to crack open another BUD!

cheers:8

BC

777birdcage

WOW - when you go fishing you're always hoping to catch a big one..... but you never really expect to! ;)

Hope you're enjoying the AJV/X experience. :ok:

(Still reckon Bud's a pretty average beer; now if you were talking about Alaskan Amber that would be a whole different ballgame.)

Great experience so far...! Truth be told, Bud is AWEFUL... I would prefer a James Boag myself..

Cheers!:cool:

A quick question to those in the program... are there any corporate drivers getting in, or are most people from 121 type carriers?

corporate pilots
 

If your username is an indication of your success with a/c serviceability please stay away!!:}

Seriously, before anyone shoots me.

So far, I would say all the pilots are from airline backgrounds, though, I would say corporate experience shouldn't be a problem.

Suggets you give the employment companies, PARC,HACS (CREW) or IAC. Not necessarily listed in any specific order.

Good luck

Been contacted by both PARC in Dublin and IAC in Australia. For a U.S. citizen, which company is better in terms of tax issues, total compensation, and ease of paperwork/application process, if any?

Thanks,