Cheers
 

Dominican,
Thanks for a very thorough reply. I appreciate you freely sharing your experience.
Q10. What I mean is, if you work 24 days (an extra 7, for example) will you get 13 (an extra 3) consecutive off etc? Or some similar arrangement by negotiation.

Thanks for your reply and previously shared knowledge.

Any others experience and comments are appreciated.
VneII

Oh! I get what you mean now! Well no! There is no scheme that will increase your days off allowance. What you can do is have work periods and days off periods back to back. I use my vacation days every month to increase my period to 14 days, the way that I take my vacation then is to bid days off periods back to back so that I can get a 28 day stretch to go on vacation, some guys do this from time to time (that way they commute once in a two month period and get their $2,000 every other month) but although the long stretch of days off in a row are nice, you pay for it with 6 weeks of work in a row and that can be quite long.

Just a point about the ZED (rebate) travel.

We have the LOWEST priority for travel using our zed tickets. They are also for economy class and not upgradeable.

This does make it a lot less flexible than some may think. Do not be surprised to be left behind, with the aircraft having empty seats or being last in the queue and the cleaner's brother's sister's best friend's husband gets a boarding pass before you do.

The scheduling here is very different to other airlines, especially those in the US. There is NO seniority based bidding, no bidding for trips. The only request you can make is for days off. This request is not guaranteed but the schedulers do try their best to give you days off.

The initial support for new hires when they arrive is constantly improving. I believe that AJX staff will meet you on arrival in Japan and assist with your transit to the apartments. The first day, they will be assisted to the training centre for orientation. After that it's pretty much solo. There should be guys from earlier courses who can help from there.

Thanks Gtseraf and Dominican,

Do you get upgradable ZED fares on other carriers eg United or Qantas?
Does your staff travel include spouse and or other family?

Also I was wondering if there is a seniority system. A big part of the advertising of this contract is that it is an upgradable position. Does this actually happen? Are nationals promoted ahead of expats? Or is a command used as a carrot at 4 years and 11 months to get you to sign again?

Cheers
VneII

no upgradeable zeds on any carrier

travel includes spouse, children and parents (but some restrictions)

No seniority. F/O's have pretty much all been given the opportunity to go through the upgrade system (evaluation, sim, line training, final check). Most (all but 2, I think) have been in the first contract, time from joining to completion of upgrade varies from 2.5 years to 5 years. Just luck of the draw. I guess an average would be 4 years.

At present, ALL f/o's are contractors, even the Japanese guys, so there is no difference between local and foreign pilots ( in this respect).

This is all based on the history over the past 11 years. I would expect it to continue like this BUT there are no guarantees. At present we have a capt/f/o ratio of about 2.5:1. They seem happy to be fat with Captains and regularly schedule capts to fly with other captains.

Things are done very differently here, so be prepared to make adjustments and go with the flow, otherwise you won't enjoy the experience.

As a trainee absolutely everything is done for you. Your only worry should be studying and enjoy tokyo on your days off, if you wish so.

Waj ,
Don't worry there is no logic to any of these recruitment decisions. I have 4500 hrs 757, 767 rated and differences done. Couldn't get in as a DEC as I'm 250 short of the 3000 PIC.

There is a major reluctance world wide to put 757 guys on the 767, probably cos it may cost a few pounds and require a tiny amount of effort...

Anyone going to the screening towards the end of April in Vancouver, Canada?

Not with AJX. They accept the B757/767 on your licence as being type rated, whether you've flown the 767 or not. There's no great excitement because the 757 isn't a 'widebody' and there are pilots here that had only flown the 75 and not the 76.

That is absolutely the reason they would not have accepted you in the past. The Japanese are so literal when it comes to these sort of things that 1 hour less than what's required will see them saying 'no'. Nowadays, as I've said previously, they'll want you to have a JCAB ATPL, >3000 hrs PIC on largish aircraft AND a B757/767 type rating to join as a DEC. I know that none of the recruitment agencies have this on their websites but, then again, they wouldn't, would they.

Just got a request to fill out the secondary application for 767 FO. If I ended up getting hired and did a 5 year contract would there be any chance to change to the 787s as they replace the 767s? I know it's putting the cart in front of the horse but I'm just curious.

No. Air Japan only flies the 767. The 787 is the sole property of ANA at this time.

Come here with the expectation to fly the B767 and you won't be disappointed. When ANA flies the last 787 to the dessert for storage, they will bring the crew back to Japan in a 767:hmm:

Just to add to my previous post two up. I seem to get this question alot from friends in the States who are looking at this job. They ask if there is a chance of bidding to the 777 or some other such airframe. :ugh: I just want to clarify that you are NOT working for ANA. You are working for Air Japan and the only airplane that Air Japan currently flies is the 767. That is it. There is no chance as of now for any other type. If you are wanting to fly the 777 or 787 then this is presently not the right job for you.

Besides, why would you want to fly an aircraft that only carries 4 lithium ion batteries when you can haul 150 kg of them around the sky with 2 tonne of metal explosives next to them??:eek:

maybe you've gotta make as simple as possible (after all we're talking about Yanks I believe!) maybe bullett form:

- you'll be a contract pilot;
- no union;
- sterling support (NOT!) from your contract agency;
- you're employed to fly the current fleet;
- you are NOT, and NEVER WILL BE, an ANA pilot as you will NEVER have the requisite standards and ability to be judged in that league;
- the requisite standards and ability required will be demonstrated on an ad-hoc basis (maybe....) by the local Captains;
- and just to clarify....you are employed by an ANA subsidiary to fly THOSE aircraft the subsidiary flies, you will NEVER be regarded as an "ANA pilot" and any thoughts of being an ANA "professional pilot" are laughable.

If there is any of the above that remains unclear....you must study (so you can understand) more.

Just a thought!! :ok:

BTW: realise how delicate the Yanks can be at times, was only joking...honest! :)

Cheers
galdian

AJX schedules nowadays (nights) are mostly back of the clock or night duties. AJX basically gets allocated flights by ANA, it does not have its own sales, marketing etc. It operates flights exclusively on behalf of ANA. ANA thus allocates flights to AJX and it's no surprise that these flights are pretty much the worst flights on the ANA international B767 network.

In happier days, before the merger and the management change which preceded it, we had admin managers who would not accept some of these flights, as these flights did not assist in decent fatigue management, so some flights were "easier" flights to allow for decent rest and overall reduction in fatigue.

Sadly, this seems to have fallen away now and the flights allocated appear to be accepted with no resistance form our office staff and management staff.

Rumor has it that a Delhi return will be on the schedule from October. 2 man crew, flight time around 10:35, departure around 6:30 pm, making that an arrival around 4:30 am Japan time. 25 hours off and an approx 8 hour flight back, also 2 man crew. NO crew rest, no heavy crew!! This in addition to some of the 6 or 7 day freighter flights, which have a mix of day and night flights, so a decent night's sleep in the 6 days is almost impossible.

Be prepared to be tired all the time, be flying crappy schedules while you are in Japan. The schedulers will try their luck and assign flights outside the accepted scheduling guidelines when things get tight, which is pretty much 24/7 nowadays.

There has been a steady stream of pilots leaving over the past 2 years, the majority stating that the fatiguing schedules were the main reason for their departure.

Love the username, Almostok :ok:

Purely rumour, of course, but I've heard the Delhi may be consigned to the back burner. They've realised that a 24 hour stop is insufficient, especially with no heavy crew or bunk. Since we'll, therefore, require 48 hours off there (oh, deep, deep, joy) they might as well leave it with ANA Mainline. Naturally, they'll need two weeks off after such an ordeal but who am I to question the wisdom that pervades the scheduling office :)

Thank you for maintaining safe operation.

Joining dox
 

Has anyone had to provide a resignation letter or separation letter from their most recent company to Parc/ANA when joining, for any reason?
(employment verification, back ground check ect)

I had to provide a letter stating I am eligible for LOA's should I be offered the recall at NJA. And that was with Crew. Didn't have to resign.

okay, thanks jrmyl

anyone else who resigned to join AJ needed to provide employment verification from most recent company?