Royal Brunei Airlines
 

Anyone have feedback on what RBA are like to work for? and if they are hiring?

Applied, said they aren't hiring

Salary and terms
 

Recruitment is opened. Any info?

Anyone can confirm if the terms and conditions on offer by Royal Brunei remain the same as for 2014?

If I stand correct, expected salary would be around BND 165,000 per year plus housing, education and insurances.

Thank you.

For those people looking for info on RBA.

As others have alluded to the package is significantly below the going rate for a contract A320 Captain in Asia. The package has not increased significantly for many years and has been left well behind the going rate over time. Any increments (2.5% last year) are only applied to the basic salary so make very little difference.

In the past people accepted the lower pay because you could expect to fly 50 hours per month and with a reasonable amount of leave (more on that later) you could have a pretty good family lifestyle.

Unfortunately those days are over and you can expect to fly 70 plus hours per month. Those 70hrs a month require a lot of duty hours to achieve because of overnight split duties, nature of the route network, inefficient rostering etc.

The way the roster is written seems to be designed to give the pilots as little free time as possible. You will get 8 days off per month. Generally expect to start on an early and finish on a late. Another favourite is a SBY duty until 2300 before a day off. It is normal to have single days off in the roster.

The lifestyle in Brunei is not for everyone.
It is a very quiet place, a dry country so no Bars etc at all. A relatively small expat community (and getting smaller) that some people may find a little bit claustrophobic. Spouse's will not be able to work, about the only exception being teachers. It is also a very long way from the UK/Europe, especially when RBA starts messing with your contract leave tickets.
Brunei relies on oil and gas for 90% of its income. With the low oil price there has been a noticeable reduction in spending by the government, whether they will continue to pour money into RBA is anyone’s guess (RBA has never made a profit, it's just the size of the loss that varies)

The website mentions a "generous" amount of leave. 48 days sounds ok at first glance but there are a few things not obvious from the outside. Firstly those pilots already here get 56 days, HR are trying to effectively introduce a "B scale contract". The leave days are not working days. If you take a week’s leave that will be 7 days from your entitlement and you will lose 2 days off in that month (down to 6 from 8). Don't expect to get days off before or after leave.

The package is made up of a few parts as listed (all in BND) approximate figures per month.

Basic salary. $6500
Supplementary allowance. $3000
Expatriate allowance. $1700
Duty pay - variable approx. $800

RBA will pay an Education allowance of up to $800/mth per child 5yrs and over. This will only cover a little over 50% of the school fees at the international school (if you can get a place)

Housing allowance provides for a reasonable 3/4 bedroom detached house.

My advice for anyone considering joining RBA.

Do your due diligence. If you are offered a contract, insist on RBA flying you to Brunei for a good look around. Speak to the pilots/spouse's already here and decide if your family will be happy living here. It's too late once you are here to question the contract/conditions, staff travel, cost of living, school fees etc. It will suit some people but don’t turn up thinking it will be like living in the UK/Europe.

For type rated A320 Captains there is a big shortage worldwide. I would suggest that you are in a strong position to insist on the same contract (leave) as the rest of the RBA pilots.


Bob

With those conditions and the way the market is for experienced and qualified pilots, I don't see many applying.

With luck the pay will be even lower...

Didn’t RBA accept NZ license holders in the past? Is that not the case anymore?

Pulled out of the application process last week. Heard nothing from HR after trying on several occasions to contact them re confirming T&C's, they seem like an utter shambles. As an ex-spotty driver, none of my friends/colleagues will be moving to the other side of the world for this pile of poo. B Scale indeed.........

Another airline on the list where the good days are in the past, along with Air Niugini, Cathay and Emirates.

If you're in already and on the B787 probably not too bad for the moment. However the airline wants local pilots not expats so don't expect to move fleets. The oil price is a serious issue for the country as without oil it would be simply jungle, like the rest of Borneo.

Not a career airline anymore but not paying enough for a contract job. Hong Kong Airlines have a better package and are cancelling flights due to lack of A320/330 pilots.

Coincidentally
 

Funny you mention that Mm, I have a selection with them in a fortnight. From us in the "M" Brigade, it definitely has the T&C's that we are after. Anything less (which is what RBA and the likes are offering) is just an insult!!

T:suspect:

Bingbongbob has very good advice.

In addition all new-joiners should familiarize themselves with the 'Dunning-Kruger effect' as part of the orientation process.

My advice is to avoid this "company" at all cost :yuk:

My never- to-be- forgotten memory of that dump was when I went for an unsuccessful interview many years ago. And that was the hordes of huge voracious ants climbing up and down the walls of my bedroom and occasionally falling on to my bed in the middle of the night and the nightly screaming of the monkeys in the jungle back of my digs. l

Lets quickly summarize, last year they required a UK EASA ATPL only, and now that requirement has gone. I guess that should tell you how successful the recruitment is going....

The worst company to work for with dishonnest people :yuk:

probably terminal. Certainly no cure in sight just more repeating of the same behaviour and not even hoping for a different result.

Resignations from Flight Operations:
Executive General Manager (times 2 withiin 6 months).
Chief Pilot (allegedly resigned before removed)
Flight Safety Officer
B787 Training Manger
A320 Training manager

Any decent Aviation Authority would have considered suspending the AOC by now. Fortunately for these buffoons the DCA and RB belong to the same entity.

CEO appears to be more interested in property development and branding than running an airline. There seems to be no intention on his part to sort any of these problems out. He really seems either not to care or he has his head firmly up his ass. In any event he does not appear to have the balls to face the pilots.

"Ignorance can be cured but stupidity is for ever"

Royal Air Brunei
 

Hello everyone, newbie here. I have been trying to read up on the forums, but cannot find a direct answer. I have an interview with RBA this month, anyone here know the details, what kind of questions you can expect and what the sim check will look like for a non type rated FO.

Regards

Go there and see the joke !!!!!!

My questions is very simple and straight forward, but somehow I cannot get an answer.

If you are someone who requires a straight answer to a simple question then maybe Royal Brunei is not for you.

If you have a valid pilots licence that helps (but is not a necessity).
If you have a measurable heartbeat that helps.(but is not a necessity).
If you are willing to take everything you know about commercial aviation and then erase it from your memory that definitely helps.
If you don't mind being subservient to unskilled junior staff that helps.
if you believe the ability to actually fly a plane is irrelevant that helps.
Can you spell B787?
Can you spell Dreamliner (advanced question)?
Can you kiss fat ass?
Do you like chaos (sorry I meant flexibility)?
Do you enjoy perpetual sleep deprivation?
Do you wish to end your marriage?
Are you capable of ignoring logical thought processes?
Are you incapable of critical thinking?
Can you over-complicate even the simplest things?

If the answer to all the above is yes then maybe this is the airline for you.

By chance, yesterday I had a very interesting chat with a pilot who is applying to RBA as DEC on the A320. He said they increased or are about to increase some allowances (education to B$1200 per month, flight pay up from the $8 per block hour to increase the take home pay as they will fly at least 70 hours a month). Also he said they are not happy when pilots ask about the annual leave because they just don't want to increase it again to 58 days. When I asked if those informations came from the airline he said it came from a fellow pilot that left recently.
Anyone can confirm?

Even so, unfortunately the package is still poor.

What happened? 20 years ago this was rumored to be a top gig? I heard even the gold was gold-plated. It is one of the few places that does not offer flexible / commuter rosters so presumably the work life/balance is pretty good?

Until a few months ago I was very focused in applying as DEC. Although, after some search I started to realize that it wouldn´t be a wise decision as the package seems to be on the poor side along with some apparent unwise roster decisions which could influence family balance in Brunei. So, if they for real have the desire to improve the terms and conditions, that would be great but I believe they just wake up that a little bit late.
In the end, I ask the same question: What happened with RBA?

Royal Brunei assessment
 

RB has not impressed me at all. They only provided me one night in the hotel. I paid my own ticket. Now they have not given an answer from the assessment. Any airline that cannot give an answer is unprofessional, especially when it cost money to attend an assessment. This says a lot about an airline.

Even though the people were very nice and polite. They did not seem to be a very open group.

The part about the contract that did not sit well was a 3 year bond plus having to pay part of the training. Then they would pay back the money over the 3 year period. Usually the 3 year bond is sufficient for training but asking to pay part the training on top of that is a little much.

Once again do not go there !!!!!

How much would you need to live modestly in Brunei as a single person?

See above ... :ugh:

A friend of mine was telling me the other day how he can live quiet well just off the housing allowance, which is B$2200 and save up the rest of the FO salary, so I was just checking the facts.

Can't really find much on the internet, but how much is a 1 bedroom apartment rent, as well as the other expenses for a single person?

LOL, reading Duc 996 riders post, I went for this interview over 4 years ago and
seems like no change. I got 1 night in the Hotel etc etc. I actually only went cos
I too went to Singapore and came over from KL so got a cheap Air Asia flight I paid for.

I too did not join.

The country has run out of money. The airline therefore has no money and is constantly trying to claw back dollars from its existing employees instead of dealing with blatant inefficiencies. Fantasy management from a management team at war with each other. Almost the entire flight operations management team has resigned. Constant announcements of new routes that rarely materialise except for a few charter destinations in China. Endemic incompetence at every level

I know a turboprop guy that is joining soon....

I know a lot of turbofan guys leaving soon.....

Pilot interview in UK of Roya Brune