best A320 China cpt contract 2017
 

Hi guys; so it seems the time has come to make the move... Which airline would you recommend? BCA based in Sanya was my favourite but rumour has it there is a long waiting list for the base... Spring based in Shanghai should be good but the money seems less than BCA... Looking to relocate with the family for one 3 year term... Any advice from insiders? Thx in advance!

Next Spring recruitment day late March in Bangkok I understand

Hi Grumman,
I have worked for Air China (6.5 years) and am now with China Eastern (1.5 years). Given you are willing to work and move your family to China your will have plenty of options. The big question which can't be answered right now as I don't have enough information to go on, is what is the right one for you? Feel free to message me if you want some further insight into what I know about working here.

I heard Hainan is offering pretty good deals, how about lucky air? Any comment on those airlines?

hm regarding the base probably not bad.
do have more info's through your friend

Chengdu airlines is the highest $$$ on A320, Hainan group and Loong air also.

The rest pay around the same for residential, 18k-20k a month, so what comes down to the others is which city you prefer that's once passing the medical of course.

Starting today China is accepting experienced First Officers for Captain positions.
Now the gates are wide open...

safelife, do you have any references to this information?

SFO accepted

Only one, but there are plenty such schemes being set up now.
Minimum 3000 hrs total, age 30+, good time on type (1000+, some want as much as 3000 hrs).

Any more info on Qingdao? Seems the contract is good, the air quality OK, kinda good place to be. Any insiders?

"Starting today China is accepting experienced First Officers for Captain positions.
Now the gates are wide open..."

Oh, good god no. The partially sighted leading the blind.

My guess is one would be sitting right seat for at least 1 year before Captain Sim, then sitting as left seat FO (P1-Training) for another year before getting a shot at getting checked out on to the line.

China is going to be an interesting job market in the coming years.
Looking at orders and delivery dates one can clearly see that while there was substantial growth in the past few years things are really going to go vertical from this year on.

There are 2 other chineese airlines right now advertising capt positions for experienced first officers.
Why they don't just offer higher pay so they get applications from qualified captains?
Certainly there must be plenty of qualified captains willing to join for the right package...

Most airlines got an age limit of around 54 years on date of joining. Why not change that ? I am sure there is lots of experienced guys out there, who would not mind spending there last year earning some good money.

Having had a bit of a go during the Hainan roadshow last year I firmly believe the current medical "standards" they have make it difficult for many and that age - even if above average in fitness - only makes what at times appears to be arbitrary and variable standards even more difficult to achieve.

Whilst this is probably the same all around the world I'd suggest it has a greater negative impact in China than most other countries.

Then of course you have to prove yourself again every 6 months, talk seems to suggest some strange and totally unexpected things can be "discovered" - your job security is only as good as your next medical.

Cheers.

@Safelife

What they are looking for is Captains to act as a SFO for 1000 hours and then go back to the left seat position, after "upgrade".

" Dear......
Thank you for getting in contct with us and your interest in Lucky Air contract. Unfortunately this position requires previous left seat experience on type.
...."

Relocating to China
 

to answer questions 1-4, all 320 gigs pretty much the same. expect long duty hours and delays with multiple sectors in a day. Roster is published weekly, the norm is you get your roster on Friday for the following week. duties are usually 4/5 days on and 2 days so called off days (no official off days in China). expect meetings and classes on your so called off days. To make thing worse, you always end your duty past midnight on your 1st off day, and you have to rest early on your 2nd off day due early reporting on your next duty cycle.

question 5, the only day you are happy and looking forward is your pay day. the money is REAL, provided you don't fail any of the checks or even worse if you involved in an incident or QAR event. (downgrading and fines are very common)

question 6, basing does make a difference in terms of cost of living. you'll be better off in smaller tier city if you are alone or commuting. but bringing family a good school and medical facilities could be some small issues.

question 7, bringing family is definitely doable, but prepare to pay big dollars for good school. Average school fees in big cities like Shanghai and Beijing will be at the region of USD24k-36k/per year and mostly doesn't include meals, transportation and extra curriculum activities.

question 8, spouse are allowed to look for job. and if your spouse are able to get a teaching job in a good international school, then is worth bringing the family over. kid's education and school fees paid by the school.

so at the end depends what you want, bringing family will be good exposure for the family, but you will end up working really hard to maintain the cost of living in China. you will hardly have any good quality time with family. i have survived one contract in China with my family, it was great exposure for them. I started with resident package but the happiest time was when I changed it to commuting contract on my last year over there. Got to spend good quality time with family after the swapped, but without any savings. At the end i decided to move back home, make less but good quality with family. and i realized with the lower expenses back home, I'm not much more less than what i earned in China. At least now my hair is turning black again. the feeling of having a secure job and less stress are definitely my main priority.

i would think China is good only for commuters and having a back up plan to move out anytime. To bring family along, make sure your spouse get a teaching job in an international school. otherwise is gonna be tough. Saying all these, a lot of my expat colleagues in China are quite happy flying the widebody (much more off days).

good luck!!!