Anybody experience or advice regarding Smile aviation and Pilot movers?

Best Agencies for China?
 

Hi, I am looking for a new position in 2018 and considering China. There are so many agencies out there so are there any recommendations? A colleague of mine used a European Agency and nearly one year down the road he still hasn`t started with the Airline. Any advice would be appreciated. Tks

GAC by all means.

CAE Parc in Vietnam.

Literally completely useless, rarely respond to email and zero support. My experience is once you sign a contract with them, you are unlikely to here from them again with the exception of spam newsletters.

Currently experiencing an on going, unresolved allowances dispute for >5 months (they refuse to Abide by the terms and conditions of the contract they presented us with and signed off on)

Maybe others have had a different experience in other countries, and I would enjoy saying something positive about them but unfortunately it’s not the case.


Steer well clear.

Completely agree with all you said. Parc used to be THE agency to go with, till CAE bought them. Now it's trash like most of them. No communication, open disputes and zero support. Stay away !!!

Hi,

Anyone good agency for Xiamen Airlines ?

Thx

Sent an inquiry to Smile Aviation and APAS from their respective websites over a week ago. I wanted to get the information before the Lunar New Year. I have yet to hear from either agency. This type of non-service for a prospective pilot sends red flags soaring in my book. If you can't answer some basic questions as I try to enter contract I doubt they will be quick to respond to my needs while on contract. I have to say I was under contract with Rishworth several years ago and they were good to me. Communication was great and never late with payment. When contract was over all was handled very professionally.
For what its worth, my $.02.

Same here, avoid Parc Aviation by all means in Vietnam, I used to work for them for more than 5 years, now with the last representative ruling the operation in the country, the service has turn the worst one, when few years ago everyone agreed it was the best. Zero communication, zero support and zero caring about you. The pilot who represents the agency in Vietnam Airlines is another example of nothing more than to be careless except to fill up his pocket covering his ass with any kind of issue....

Agency
 

In my opinion. Get a contract agency better in China. Even you choose the commuting options.

I join HNA via one agency(I cannot point their name) during the screenings procedures. My agency was fine. After I report to HNA. I need to sign the contract with HNA overseas directly. it means I finished with my agency.

If there is no agency help you. It is very difficult to....
Chinese phone number contract
Renting apartment
Dealing with Chinese people, especially the Chinese people from work in some particular situation.
....

Besides, not sure about the which agency is better. But in HNA, I heard PARC is not HNA's contract agency.

Quick question for anyone: A guy from a recruitment agency in China is asking me if the FAA can validate my total time and PIC hours. I have never heard of such a request, any CAA normally validates the licence, and indicates if there is any suspension or revocation, accidents or incidents, but never hours. A call to the FAA Airmen Records section also got the same answer.

I know your logbook is normally stamped by your current/last company as verification. Is there something I'm missing? Has anyone gotten the FAA to track their individual flight hours for verification of the CAAC request?

'Which agency is better for Asiana, Rishworth or PARC?

Thanks.

Don’t Parc it here
 

Thank you both.

I recommend APAS around Asia. Not exactly sure if they do Asiana but they have several listings around the area. They are located in Taiwan with offices abroad. Good service, never had a problem with them. Since the beginning they explain all the details of the contract and they are always available to you.

Asia Pacific Aviation Services Limited

Quick question Ladies and Gents: is it possible to apply to several companies in China at the same time? Thanks in advance. drvr

It is net of Korean tax which in this case equates to 18.7 %. You get what the contract agencies quote.

Depending on the taxation agreement between South Korea and your home country will dictate how much tax you need to pay at home, if any.

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.