Why pilots attend but do not commit to HNA Airlines
 

Several interviews on the road have been scheduled this year to attract pilots to join Hainan Airlines. Hainan Airlines is part of Hainan group, who owns over 15 airlines, hotel resorts, and other businesses in China and worldwide. This consortium sits over a bag of money perhaps the biggest for private investors in China and worldwide.

Unfortunately, for both the pilot group and the airline, the management in place as well as the previous management for hiring and general recruitment process for pilots has been mired with snafus. This is the result of paying peanuts, you obviously get monkeys to do the job affecting the image of HNA and the group.

When I say monkeys, that include the former DGM and Trusted Advisor who can barely hold to-date a Senior F/O position, as he is a non desired individual in this company or group. Along with him, they also have a Mrs.GU who had former experience with the dreadful Rishworth Aviation, a worthless agency for hiring pilots and therefore the desease spreads quickly with other agencies trying to do the job with less resources, and technical advisory. Most of candidates who have been processed by these admin post holders were basically lied to and not sure if they got as far as joining the airline as the process was lengthy and horrendous on paperwork and all kinds of notarized and apostilled info that they never refunded anyway.

The recent road shows of Panama and Europe attracted many pilots, but only very few committed after they found the deceptive intention and lack of veracity of most recruiters with Chinese face who can only speak English level 2 by international standards, pretty much th situation you face when you start your training in Hainan.

Allow me to enumerate the reasons below of why people AVOID coming this far, as you will be regretting your modest lifestyle and your former friends and habitat:

1. Hainan Airlines is NOT a (5) five star airline, all this false advertising is simply a magnet to disguise the public and there is corruption in China at all levels to make this happen with skytrax and other international agencies awarding airlines. When you get into a HNA airplane to attend interviews in China, notice you paid for taxes and fuel surplus, not the airline, and YOU WILL NEVER BE REFUNDED THIS MONEY.
2. Hotels provided by this airline are at most substandard. Yes initially they try to impress you by putting you in PEK at the Crowne Plaza with a per diem of ¥100 that can barely buy you breakfast as it is not included. After you join the airlines they put you in sub standards hotels or barracks in the military, and you have difficulty keeping food fresh, as the rooms do not have refrigerator neither an iron table to prepare your uniform for next day flying.
3. You think you signed for a great Contract full of money and benefits, well think again. There is no LOSS OF LICENSE provision, the MEDICAL INSURANCE. Was signed only last month with lots of changes for the worse, the Schools for those planning to make of China their home (big mistake) is still being negotiated, and so forth, many lies and deception, most candidates by this time are frustrated and leave. Empty promises, check with insiders!:ugh:
4. There is no help for pilots with family members, you pay hefty travel expenses, hotels and Visa fees that can escalate to over US$2000 and the company contribution? Two monkeys in Haikou who learn from every applicant their flaws and incompetence. You also need an interpreter, English language is very scarce in HAK, you are on your own.
5. Ground training provided by HNA is perhaps the worse in the industry; you need to avail yourself at hotel with proper PC and pay for it to do the e-learning lessons, if you fail the exam, no problem Chinese and Foreign pilots pass all exams as they give you 50 chances to re take the exam. Few competent instructors for SOP,s, DGR, etc but all of them underpaid and exhausted as they look overworked and without motivation.
6. SIM and line training, you need interpreter, 95% of instructors English level 1 and most cannot sustain a conversation, you are scheduled with interpreters, a whole new bunch of school drop out monkeys who have an arrogant attitude and perhaps translate incomplete your intentions when having an emergency, so you are at the mercy of this thugs to pass or fail your check. Your instructor is the interpreter, the rest is boloni.
7. No matter your former experience,my oh start as SFO(Senior First Officer) here and be careful you DO NOT wear your four stripes until you pass the LC or else they make your line training miserable, pilots to-date working their way up a they have been over 11-16 months on line training with 70% pay. Do not bothe sending prayers for candidates facing difficulties, in China they only believe in Buddha and the money bag under your belly; read about Confucius and other philosophers here, they are an eye opener of this society.

TO BE CONTINUED, THERE IS MUCH MORE TO SAY, those of you coming this way, you have no excuse, you have been warned, all info here provided is substantiated with hard copy proof as this is not ranting or the voice of a disgruntled employee, I am the lamp of light for those of you who believed like me that this job in China was a paradise.:=

Broken dreams
 

IZAD statements are fair but somehow extreme.
I myself, like most other B737 candidates got overnight the offer to fly the B787 with a two year bond, and a $15k bonus incentive. I simply cannot produce a negative outlook about this outfit, but I do not disagree with IZAD either in his remarks about this job in China being a challenge at any cost. This is not a job for everyone except if you are focus on the ultimate goal every foreigner has here which is picking up the money bag you came to fetch, which is equivalent to double of triple of what you get elsewhere.

My only concern though is flying this new toy, a composite low cost aerocraft which they intend to use mostly for polar and trans-pacific flying across North America and perhaps into Australia and South America once the fleet expands to the 45 B787-9 on order. I say concerned after watching on YouTube the documentary program from AlJazeera called The B787, "The Broken Dreams".

I have been a narrow body faithful pilot until offered this unexpected upgrade; I must inculcate in my mind that Boeing is doing the right thing, but I have my reservations about the Dreamliner. The sofistication is there, flying would be much more relaxed, and logging hours a plus as two return trips to the USA will log you over 50 hours, so basically two trips will put you on the monthly limit.mthere is also talk over the B787 replacing eventually the B737, as the capacity per flight in a China is exceeding over 220 pax per flight. I would not be surprised if we get scheduled domestic operation in China over time.

The other concern to me is frankly the lack of international experience by colleagues like me being chosen to fly this bird; 95 % of them pilot group selected are new on flying polar and trans-pacific flights. The longer I have been on a B737 has been 07:35 hours when flying occasionally the B737-9 long haul. I also see little experience from local Chinese instructors flying to date and their Engligh levels are very deplorable to say the least. I only hope there is never a situation out of the normal, or else this would be a chaotic issue for ATC in Canada and the USA.

The make things worse, most of instruction to fly the B787 at HNA is done by The vendor, BOEING, and of course their job is to sell the product, and sell it to a foreign carrier, so they have no qualms in respect to making sure most of candidates qualify as there is no FAA or EASA rules involved, neither the pilots or the aircraft would be under a European or US registration.

Someone would say a perfect storm for an accident waiting to happen. I really thrive to see foreign experience on type and preferably wide body to join our forces here in China, as I personally would love to continue flying this bird, but would not feel very comfortable as a passenger.

I let the distinguish audience here to contribute positive comments, I am simply a lucky narrow body idiot pulled up by the inertia of this unpredictable market.:ok: