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-   -   BEIJING CAPITAL AIRLINES (https://www.pprune.org/south-asia-far-east/550050-beijing-capital-airlines.html)

On Final 26th Oct 2014 06:43

BEIJING CAPITAL AIRLINES
 
Hello All,

I was looking at the new contract for Being Capital Airlines and wonder if any of you have any good data on the airline? I have been in China almost 7 years and have followed some of the different airlines over the years.

There has to be a reason why Being Capital Airlines is having to pay so much money, kinda throws up a RED Flag.

Important things are how do they treat the EXPATS
Schedules
Punishments
payment of Bonuses and OT.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks,

On Final

de facto 26th Oct 2014 10:02

Getting stuck on final huh?:p

Dockjock 26th Oct 2014 20:05

Air Canada is presently offering leaves of absence and BCA through Aeropersonnel has the full court press on our A320 captains as a result. They are running screenings next month and it sounds like there will be a dozen or more takers. We're being told that the safety bonus scams are a thing of the past, everything is great etc etc. Basing in Sanya, live by the beach, what could be better? For me I have a young family and couldn't pull the trigger but I did give it more than a second thought. Honestly a little bit of "too good to be true" was holding me back. As you say, red flag.

On Final 26th Oct 2014 20:56

BEIJING CAPITAL AIRLINES
 
Hello, Thanks for replies. In this game best to always plan ahead, keep your eyes open...ha.

The Sanya base is not bad and not sure, use to be out and backs most of the time.

There use to be a Chinese lady as the VP but not sure if she is still working there.

Thanks,

On Final

WYOMINGPILOT 27th Oct 2014 00:16

From friends there, the Sanya gig is probably one of the best deals going in China right now. One thing to watch out for is the bait and switch they offer of promising Sanya and then only delivering Beijing. The time delays and slow moving new joiner process is also something to watch out for. Another good A 320 option is Lucky Air in Kunming. Wish I was a bus driver as the pay there is way out stripping the current Boeing pay. Best of luck.

On Final 29th Oct 2014 05:15

Beijing Capital Airlines
 
Hi Wyoming, Thanks for you reply. Any Captains currently working for Beijing Capital Airlines can share information? I wonder if they are doing mostly turns out of Sanya Base. Are there many overnights?

Any information is good.

Thanks,

On Final

MOVE THREAD-----Link to other Beijing Capital Airlines not to duplicate thread.

http://www.pprune.org/south-asia-far...-airlines.html

USMCProbe 29th Oct 2014 05:42

As of 2 years ago the expats in Sanya were doing mostly 1 days trips with maybe 1 overnight a week. The Sanya pilots spent the night in Harbin or Shenyan, and the PEK guys spent a night in either Sanya or Urumqi.

When I was there it was one of the better gigs in China. The company treated the expats well, and the fines were not as frequent as some other airlines in China, notably Hainan Airlines. If you got fined at BCA, you probably did something blatantly wrong that you could have avoided. Fines are part of the regs.

Almost everyone I worked with is now gone for various reasons. If you are a surfer Sanya is a good deal. Also the air is clean. Other than that it is a secondary city in China. Very few expats, or expat friendly services. No western medical care. It is difficult and expensive to commute out of Sanya. You have to fly out to another city in China to connect to an international flight.

I was also wet leased out to Lucky Air for 6 months. Similar flying to BCA. Kunming is OK. Air quality is OK. More expats than Sanya, but not as good as PEK, CAN, or Shanghai.

BCA, Lucky, and Tianjin are all part of Hainan Group and all are just subsets of Hainan Airlines. They share ground staff at each others' bases. Operationally they are the smoothest operation I have ever seen in 25 years of aviation.

And the money is very, very good. At least the months when you are not med down and not getting paid. It is still China.

On Final 29th Oct 2014 05:55

Beijing Capital Airlines
 
Hello USMC, thats good information, thanks much. I have seen you here on PPRUNE along time making great posts...!

For me almost 7 years in China, now on the A330. Just getting tired of flying west with time diff. Kicking my A---s. The money on the A330 is too low compare to A320 even though its tiring banging around China but its do able.

Thinking about getting on the A320, make more money while staying on the same time zone. I am looking for the next contract with the right airline and pay A320.

My info for BCA is old, 3 years ago, I am sure many things have changed. I wonder why they have to pay so much for pilots.

Thanks, Again,

On Final

USMCProbe 29th Oct 2014 06:13

They were hiring continuously while I was there, but lost pilots just as fast they as they hired them. As long as you were a real pilot with real experience, the line training wasn't difficult or as long as some other carriers in China.

Like I said, operationally the Hainan Group rocks. The only bad part of BCA was the staff they had that dealt with foreign pilots. It was basically a bunch of friends and family from the countryside.

Several of us might have stayed had they offered more time off than 6/2. They wouldn't budge off of that when I left. Will they now? Maybe the new roster options are just a carrot to get you to sign a contract with them. I don't know.

The leadership of the airline likes expats.

hugeduck 5th Nov 2014 06:29

Offering more commuting choices and raising pay would be the trend for airlines in China to attract expat pilots, as well as improving their internal system to understand, communicate and help expat pilots if the management awares.

The past 7-10 years were the first time that China aviation inducted expats into this field. It was pain for both airlines and expat pilots to get to know each other. I should say recent years things are getting better in most of the airlines.

Though culture, language, lifestyle...in China are quite different from Western and there are many headaches in work, expats could lead a happy life if he's willing to make friends and being kind and optimistic. I believe some captains posting in this thread do know China well and deal with things well. :ok::ok::ok:

gatorman330 5th May 2015 04:22

BCA
 
i am with bca in sanya, on the whole, everything is good, we have a good chinese manager who understands that the foreign pilots do have different attitudes to the chinese culture of do as you are told. The Base thing... carrot? not really, you usually get based where you want but will end up touring to other bases for a week to 10 days as they are short of pilots in xian guilin and hangzhou for international flights and haikou and sanya for internal flights so if you want to be based at any of these, come on in the water is fine. In sanya they have just started to send us to do international flying to bangkok etc and yes they are deep night flights, red eyes mofo trips, most internal flights are finished by 0100.

The hotels range from average to flea pits, haikou and xian are the worst, we are going there for 4 to 6 days at the moment which is making me rethink the situation!. if you have kids, make that your priority and don't choose sanya, beijing and guangzhou are great for international schools but they come at a hefty price, there is an international school in sanya but lots of complaints as its been hijacked by the rich chinese parents who are demanding changes more akin to chinese schools but you will have to talk to the guys with kids for that info'. My wife is a qualified uk diploma holder to teach kids up to 6 so that might be an avenue to take for the wifey at some stage
The money speaks for itself, BCA couldn't attract pilots and we are expanding very quickly so now they have upped the anty and its paying off as we have quite a few guys joining now and in the coming months, 22 first officers attempted command upgrade last month..2 passed!!!!!
Flying here is frustrating, FL226 on a 2;45 hour sector is not what i am used to.
I took 9 months to get online its a lot quicker these days,that was 3 years ago, probably 4 months now, there was always something wrong with visas licences security checks etc when i was assimilated
Life in sanya is generally good and the guys here are great, a real mixed bunch of pilots and we like to mix with the expats that are here too, they are a good bunch. cricket is played usually once a month(for the yanks thats baseball for men), we had 56 people turned up last week, BBQ beers etc which is a good time to meet lots of the expats
Health care.... hmmm, brand new hospital in haiting bay just down the road but seems to be the same bunch of medical guys using it so hong kong or guangzhou/beijing if you get hurt, once again, if you are worried about health care, don't choose sanya
Sanya is what it is, we like it but we don't have kids and we haven't had health problems... yet!
The sim for selection is a bitch
The medical check is ridiculous
The bureaucracy is... well you will find out
see you all soon

Dihedral1 5th May 2015 06:09

Gator
 
Thanks for a balanced overview..
Money wise BCA can't be beat:D
What about the A330 talk, is that happening gatorman"330"? Coincidence or good planning?
Regards,
D

USMCProbe 5th May 2015 08:21

Thanks Gatorman;
I was just starting to inquire about coming back. Living in the airport dumps at Xian or Haikhou for a week or more at a time? I think I will pass for now.

Xian you are literally on the airport perimeter fence, on the other side of the airport from the terminal. The "hotel" is at the end of a dusty dirty road several Km s long. Nothing around.

gatorman330 6th May 2015 02:47

yes john, xian is the worst of all the hotels, even haikou, i am positioning there tomorrow for 4 days... a training flight to bangkok, can't believe someone is going to try and teach me to fly international routes:ugh:
To be fair life is very good here, we all now live in ban shan bandao area which is a great area right next to the international school here, if you can call it that, beers on the beach yesterday.... nice!
The new international routes have only just started and they are desperate for us to do them even though we are short of pilots in sanya so i am hoping it settles down soon and they do what they should do and that is to base new pilots where they are needed and not give them the base they want and then spend their lives touring as the guys in beijing do:mad:

gatorman330 6th May 2015 02:50

The 330?? hmm, we were supposed to be getting 2 this year, one in beijing the other in hangzhou but i believe hainan airlines have thrown a spanner in the works.... they were planning to go hgh lax daily but as with all aviation dreams, factors of etops certification were never considered:ugh: i believe hainan airlines are taking the lax route off us so if the 330 comes it will be europe or internal flying
i was mixed fleet flying 320 and 330 in a previous existence but have told them i categorically do not want to fly 330, my priority is my family and i like coming home at night, not staying in flea pit hotels

gatorman330 9th May 2015 00:43

hi john, originally told last week that 3 of us sanya based pilots 'were the chosen few' apparently its an honour to fly international :ugh:, we will effectively tour the bases doing the international flights, i am assured now that after more complaints from the 3 of us harping on that they have increased that number to 10, more to follow so it may not be that bad. We are still enjoying sanya and living in ban shan bandao is expensive..... its worth it, very nice apartments, great views, great pool etc, good clean beaches and only just over a mile to dadong hai
would be great to see you back here mate, need some more cricket players, even if you do swing like a girlie baseball player:D:)

USMCProbe 9th May 2015 12:24

Thinking hard about it. I have it really good at the moment, but it is always just a moment in time. Things will change, as will my current deal. I much prefer being an expat.

BTW, the 330's were coming in early 2010 as well.

gatorman330 11th May 2015 11:53

i was told yesterday that 2 a330s are expected in july? lots of chinese captains are desperate to fly 330 but they don't want to do the international flights on 320, no money in it!!!

USMCProbe 14th May 2015 11:38

I thought HNA pilots got a lot of extra money for international flights? BCA is different?

For me I could care less. They will probably do BKK as a turn, no layover. A piece of concrete is a piece of concrete.

gatorman330 4th Jun 2015 03:30

chinese guys get 160% for international flights and like the layovers but there are no layovers any more and we don't cost anything to do them but it is 5-9 days away from base which is a bitch


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