KAL: Why are they ALWAYS advertising for pilots?
 

Apologies if this has been asked and answered before.....

it seems anytime I open an international flight magazine there are always ads for KAL pilot requirements.... and I mean every week for the past several years if not longer. I don't think KAL has THAT many aircraft on order that it requires so many applicants, does it?

TO me, this really raises a flag about working there.

What am I missing about this.... how can they be interviewing so many pilots and have only nominal deliveries of aircraft coming in?

is it really that bad there that guys are just basically fleeing the company???

Thanks for some honest input here.

Kapitan

The salary is low, the working environment is not very ex pat friendly, there will never upgrade an ex pat F/O. What else do you need to know?

The pay, from what info I have for DEC's is not what I'd call "low". They advert about 14,000 US/month. Plus a commuting contract.....

Kap

This is the offer for 777 DEC and in top of that you have to pay for your own type rating and a high possibility of failing their training.

US$12,600 tax paid per month ($12,760 without
insurance) / $7,800 ($7,960) during training. $135 per
hour over 75 hrs / month (paid off-shore).

Per Diem: US$2 to US$4 per hr / varies per destination.

The place is a revolving door, evidently it is not what it looks like on paper

Thanks Dominican....

So you'd get over 13K a month US with the per diem after tax.... not too bad in my book. BUT there is a reason they keep having to advertise, eh?

Thanks again.

Kapitan

Herr Leutnant
 

Just read the KAL threat here, then sit back, relax and close your eyes and imagine the humiliation explained there. Revolving door is a nice wording....

You see now Korean National Pilots leaving KAL as the climate is hostile. The Senior VP Hwang does not like anybody, not Foreigners (Kal-Jargon) not Jeju-Kadetts and maybe at the end of the day nobody else.... The feedback is from bad to worse.

On the Paper the contract lookes good and the Agent will lie to you until you are there and find out that the paper in the toilet is a higher value then the paper your contract is written on.

You do medical and SIM-screening on Interview, average failiure rate 70%. You pass the Interview and get a offer to pay for your Type-rating and then during the OE (Line-training) You get chopped because you did something wrong. You gave the approach signal at 20.500 feet or 19.000 ft and not at 20.000 feet. Too bad.... no good Captain. You mix the sequence of loading the FMC-preflight, no good Captain. Failure is faster then success..... believe me and others who wrote about KAL in the threat KOREANAIR.

It was nice to work there and now it becomes more fragile and in over 10 years I have seen many likelihoods of People endangered and destroyed because they got lured the last two or three years by the temption to fly a shiny new model Airplane and have seen it for 12 Legs only maybe 14 if they got recommended for the Checkride but failed and could not get a second ride because they did already go a extension in the training and the maximum is 50% extension...... too bad Captain. Nobody defends you, not the Agent not any of the Pilots in the Company, too bad Captain.

Do you have a Job? Do you have a Family? do you want to be out on the road with a high chance of failing? 7 out 0f 8 or 3 out of 4 failing in one course is not unusual. Who´s fault is it ? Are all Pilots in the World so bad that they won´t make it? AirIndia is not a option anymore if you try to gain the 100 hours on Type (B777) as a few years back when the Lad´s went straight to BOM after KAL´s OE and the required 100 hrs under the belt. Quo Vadis.....

There would be more I could tell here but you would not believe me and think I would make it up, talk to people who flew for KAL or who are with KAL, they can give you as well some food for thoughts.

Listen to ATC conversations when your hear them on the Radio.... sometimes you have to guess what is going on and two things at the time cannot be transmittet to some chaps. Just one by one. Go and look into the history book and see what confizian system means. Maybe you get a idea of structure.

Fly safe and land happy

NG

Congrats NG
 

Simply the hard truth.

KAL T&Cs
 

Any current KAL 747 pilots have the straight scoop on what current pay and scheduling is like at the airline? I am looking at the 747 capt contract.

Is it true that you receive 9 consecutive days off per month?

Is it true that you can take your 24 days leave in 2 day increments with your 9 consecutive days off per month?

Do you get confirmed C class seat to and from your designated home on the KAL system each month?

Are there agencies other than Rishworth that can place you with KAL?

Can anyone post a typical monthly schedule here online?

Any punishment schemes in place as seem to be prevalent at Chinese carriers?

Looking to make a move soon so any info you guys in the know can post is appreciated.

Many Thanks for any enlightening responses

Kapitanleutnant...

The salary that is mentioned here (approx 13000.00) is all you get. There is no Loss of Licence coverage, no offshore medical coverage, if you get sick for more than thirty days, you are done. For these items, you must purchase insurance. Some of the agencies will assist you in this, or you purchase your own. A typical contract in that respect I suppose.

The chances of you ever getting overtime is about zero, as they factor your flight time for pay. Many months I have gone over the "75 hours" in flight time but have received zero overtime pay.

..And in my opinion, 13000.00, for this job, is not great at all.



Jbb747 ...

The contracts are essentially all the same for all fleets with the exception of pay. There are some minor differences between agencies. Several exist, Rishworth, CCL, GAP, etc. They are basically all the same. I'm with CCL and the guy who you'll most likely work with there (J.R) is an a.rse,,

Yes, you get 9 days off per month, and 2 days "vacation" which accumulates on a month to month basis. You can string these together each month. The schedulers are quite good at giving you the "string of days" you want each month.

Confirmed Business Class seat to and from home base. (You can switch this "home base" if you wish)

The "75 hour" overtime pay threshold is a bit of a joke. They will factor your flight time for pay purposes, so little chance of ever getting anything.

The per diem is the lowest I have ever received ..

The good thing about this job... It does allow you to live in your home country. That is significant, however I can't really think of many other good points.

Kimcheejones

Kimcheejones
 

Thanks for the reply. How many nights in then ICN Regency on average per month? Layover hotels good quality? Any chance you can give me a sample of a monthly schedule?

Thanks,

JBB747

I doubt anyone will post a roster on this site.

Your rosters will vary from month to month, usually from 75 - 85 hours. If you request it, the schedulers can give you an operating trip to your nominated home base each month... doesn't always work, but can occasionally increase your time at home.

Life on the road is a total bore. You will be on your own 95% of the time. Get a good book.

Kimcheejones

They might soon have to advertize even harder/

Latest chatter on the line ...

Company management approached a senior Foreign Flt Ops manager (R.K.) to assist them in drafting a memo addressed to all foreign crew about the need to reduce our pay!! He refused to do it. Apparently, fuel cost, loss revenue on our Japan routes etc. is affecting the bottom line. And they are targeting our bottom line.

Special ...

Kimcheejones

Re: Commute
 

It's confirmed Biz to work, Coach (upgradable) going home. I've always had Biz or better.

The floodgates to the exodus are opening.

.. Crunk..

Not sure what your contract says, but mine is very specific....

Guaranteed Business to AND from work.

Kimcheejones

... and MORE advertising ....

The assistant to the VP of Flight OP's has just resigned ... from his home!! He quit and didn't return!! This guy has been with the company for a very long time and finally just got fed up with the BS.

I'll bet the management in Flt OP's flipped over this one.

Kimcheejones

Kimcheejones
No one's flipping, RK's move was anticipated somewhat. Word has it that he didn't keep much of silence his intent anyway.
Life goes on, pay stays low, guys keep resigning and the locals are simply overjoyed, on top of the constant supply of desperate drivers from all over the western hemisphere.
Fly safe, judging by some of the recent incidents (I'm sure you know who and when), it won't be long before we see one that pops up on CNN.

KAL Aviator
Could you elaborate on the recent incidents?

Don't be naive guys; rk is approaching 60. KAL human resources division has a policy of dumping management pilots approaching 60 so that upon " retirement " at 60, they are not obliged to pay any big lump sum for leave accrued at the " hefty " pay rates. rk's pay is about 1.5k above normal expat's pay and through his 14 or so years at KAL he has probably accumulated heaps of leave days prior to the recent rules barring accumulation of leave beyond 30 days.
It's a matter of time before they dump him and he's smart.......he looks " heroish " resigning from home at this point in time! It would have been loss of face otherwise!

Flood gate
 

....Breaking News: Another over 10 Years with KAL B777 Ex-Pat left, confirmed by liable sources. He was far from age 60, so not due to pay reduction fear. Just wondering when the metal is parked and C.Y.H. is realizing that he get screwed a second time from the local mates.

Incidents close call´s are happening frequently despite all the efforts FOQA, Surprise Line Check and confidential reporting.

Quite a number of KAL expats are nothing but " shyte ",a bunch of riff raffs and con artists. Our dumb flight admin dept got conned through and through and lost lots of money recruiting fakers who got through the hoops thanks to the camaraderie with the expat management pilots and alteon checkers.
Ideally, KAL should have no more than 10% expats but now we just have too many. Non rated captains should NEVER have been recruited. KAL has become the joke " type rating school " training these non rated fakers who will probabaly jump ship soon now that EK has revised their T & Cs.