WRT China......
Just heard about nationwide reduction of salaries to compensate for the implementation of their new flight time limitations. Has anyone been contacted or intimated by their respective agencies about the planned reduction in pay and bonuses?
My prospective employer has a new pay matrix circulating around. They haven't made an official announcement yet, but looks like it's a go. Basically a 1k reduction in basic and 12% reduction on the safety bonus. There has been an increase on the OT rates. But back of the envelope calculations show a drop in overall compensation.

Thanks so much!

China is sadly out of the question as it seems, however in case of Vietnam Airlines which agency is the best? I got an invitation to submit by Rishworth, FCI, CAE and the rest of the lot.

For Vietnam Airlines I went with DirektAero. They are new, managed by pilots with great onshore (if you need to make tax declarations in Europe and want pension; circa 18,5 % total cost) or offshore (pretty standard) options. Further to this they offer LOL insurance with APPN at a good discount. You can contact them on Linkedin or try with crew4u.aero

Also interested in Vietnam. Anyone on the 787 with a contract other than 6 on 2 off? How negotiable is the roster? Anyone commuting from NZ? Which agencies to avoid? Feel free to pm me.

Hi Guys and Gals

Just a note about TWI Aviation... Have been with the agency for over 10 years and in Sep 2018 the ownership and Management changed... TWI Aviation is now owned by LongReach Avn... The New Manager also Manages IASCO and he and his team have made positive changes to the operation... Went thru a Contract Renewal at the first of the year and was the easiest and most productive of 3 renewals at IBEX... A good friend who is at SKYMARK thru IASCO has also been very happy with the Management team... When the Ownership transfer happened the Owner's of LongReach came out to J-land for a introduction and were very positive about bringing TWIA under their Brand... Both the Manager and Owners are pilots so they have a real understanding of issues of the driver... Anybody considering a contract in Japan I would recommend TWI Aviation/ IASCO if they are one of the of Agencies offering the position... Especially IBEX, they are now the BEST of the three...

Kampai, Jpncrjdriver

Greetings

I have read through most information about EVA and KAL using the search function in the forums.
I'm looking to find more up to date information, opinions, experience with preferred choice of agencies for EVA (Parc, Rishworth) and KAL (CCL, Rishworth, GAP) etc.

Currently 737 FO but looking for greener pastures in respect to life at home and the commuting of KAL appeals greatly to me.
Cant recall from where but heard KAL offer expat 737 FOs 777 after x months which could be nice as KAL serve my home city 5 times a week.

Feel free to PM.

Cheers

=========================

Until you have a posting history you don't have access to private messaging and adding urls.

Hi there,

I have a basic question about agencies and taxes.
Do the agencies pay taxes and social taxes at the point where they are located, since you are a normal employee for them? E.g. Does Parc pay taxes in Irleand from your income?
I know it depends on where you reside and so on, but most of you are probably non resident in Ireland, and live somewhere else. Which in fact most Double Taxation Agreements say taxes must be paind in the country of emplyment then (so Ireland in Parc case).
So can someone give me an example how you do your taxes in detail?


Regards
Austro767

The agencies try to pay as little taxes and no social contributions as possible. Exploring every loophole and actively creating some.

The really honest ones will give you answers.
The really good ones may have a system that actually works.

If anything is shady or debatable, the general concept is they do not pay and you get the penalty if foul play is called.

There is only one option, you get in touch with a licenced accountant of your own jurisdiction and pay them to research a tailored answer applicable to your personal circumstance.

KAL vs AJX agency advice
 

Planning my next move and wanting to get the best commute contract. Seems KAL and AJX both have pro's that interest me! Any advice on which agency is best to use for the 2 of them?

I guess I'm not the only one who finds it ridiculous that the agencies are still advertising positions with airlines which are knowingly made redundancies and/or stopped hiring several months ago. Just today at least 4 posts came up on my LinkedIn wall about positions in Japan, Vietnam and also Europe. All were posted a few hours ago...

Agencies are all trying to build an up to date database of pilots. By applying to a position advertised through an agency the candidate adheres to a clause of not applying for the same position through a different agency. Just a plain simple competition between the usual suspects like Rishworth, CAE, Sigma, etc. Whether a real job is behind the advertised positions is yet to be seen, however most of them are only advertising as per their contract with the respective operators even though those operators stopped hiring, training, etc. until further notice. Also another thing is worth to mention: most Asian countries are banning entry of all foreigners making recruitment process extremely difficult, if not impossible. A Skype interview can only cover a part of the whole process, if any.

T.A.C.A.N Racetracks missing final pay
 

The ill-famed agency strikes again.

Last and this year Spicy Chinese Air Lines have a policy of only paying 30% of the due salary during vacation time (holidays home) and later releasing the remaining 70% upon pilot's return to PRC. For those not coming back, all the missing money would be sent as a lump sum with the final settlement. This happened to quite a few pilots for varied reasons, times are not easy.

Somehow T.A.C.A.N. Racetracks delay that last payment for a few months, later claim they never received it. This finds the foreign pilot home with his work visa cancelled, 6-9 months after he had left the country. Emails sent to the Airline HR don't come back at all or just reply it's agency business. Getting a written confirmation whether or not the Airline transfered the owed part of the salary is impossible (Note: Cultural reasons here, no foul play from the airline).

Eventually via a network of honest acquaintances and (semi) legal advisors bank transfer records were obtained and T.A.C.A.N. Racetracks threatened. Cash came home, we're talking ~80k USD/pilot in the most extreme case. Substantial costs accrued along the way for the helping team and middlemen.