China's Current A320 4on/4off Options (feedback pls)
 

Been looking at some work options in China and gathered some feedback during my search, any related info is appreciated as I am weighing the option to go to China in order to get a 4on/4off commute.

Here is a list of a few that I have seen might qualify as an option, and latest info I could get on them(there's not much).

- Sichuan Airlines: Latest on forum was that conditions have gone down. (minimum rest or less, long duties, days off not respected maybe outdated reference from 2016 ). Heard people are not lasting a year there recently..
- LoongAir: management not treating people well apparently..
- China Eastern: stopped hiring, heard good things on people working there, good environment and company culture. Unsure if they will hire again..
- Guilin: stopped hiring for the moment, looks like a good place to go, small airline but not hiring for the rest of the actual year apparently.
- BCA: No recent feedback from people working there, anyone there at the moment?
- Tianjin: Looks like hiring stopped momentarily but not great feedback on forums.
- Lucky Air: not good feedback on forums on company culture.
- Juneyao : Mentioned as a place to stay away from below.
- Chengdu: Read here is a better option than Sichuan

Objectively we all know China is not for everyone, cultural and management issues will always be there... just looking for a relatively decent option from what is available while knowing all China means for us...
PMs welcome
:ok:

Because it's true, they're all the same.

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So simply stay away.

Under severe pressure from the CAAC, the CAAC ravaged their foreign crews in revenge/retaliation/retribution/childish hissy fit over unrelated mishaps of others. The are severely understaffed as a direct result.

They are severely short of operating cash as the locals are far behind in receiving their pay.

As for a 4/4 roster, expect a "force majeure" situation where you simply may not be able to get them to give the days off despite the fact it is what you signed your name on. They won't discuss the situation except as a last option to try to get you to keep flying, they will only squeeze as hard as they can starting with no replies to your communications as they pile flights into your roster over top of your supposed contracted time off. The people making the decisions will wall themselves off from you so you will be unable to call them out directly for the violation of your T&C's.

The group generally agrees it used to be the best place in China to be, now it is my consensus it is about the worst.

That all said, I will say that the crews are a pleasure to work with.

Hi
Chengdu Airlines stopped hiring at the moment also...

I think there is never a good time to come to China unless $$$ is all you cared and willing to take whatever BS they shove up your ass. ( a highly paid prostitute as they said )

It's all hearsay.

The era of everyone across the country booming 20% each year seems to be over. Anything in the HNA Group is in the state of upside-down standstill. Finding out which airline is in the HNA Group is part of the game.

It's worth clarifying to one's self well and clear what the personal motivations behind really are. If you have a job that needs to be changed, and China comes on top of the options list being the best-suited choice with a margin, good. That angle will help enormously. And then it matters not much which airline, it's a lot of different shape - same taste affair.

If you have a job and just fancy going there for a better overall package [workhours / (time home * money)], chances of happy success are statistically less. The psycho-social demands are seriously tough. Resentment and displeasure are easy to settle in case you had some equivalent choices.

On a commuting roster, the location might be important. You want a direct flight between your base and home country or at least (easy to reach) rail-link from the Chinese airport of arrival to the operating base. Guess 2 hours in a car'd be fine too, worth about 80 USD one-way.
BJS has all the connections and reasonable prices. Shanghai is linked to the world neatly for twice the cash however. The rest is hit and miss, devils in the details everywhere.

I'd say you want a large base, and a big name-airline. Someone who's been dealing with foreigners for as long as possible, and is not a spin-off brand. You're a highly paid asset and might be exploited as such Aim for a more constitutionalized company, even if the training will be longer and more painful perhaps. Also, you definitely want to ask about "base days protection" or similar, not to be thrown around the empire with a suitcase at hand for full months at a time.

Whoever offers 182 off / y is worth looking at. Fixed 28 d / 28 d make sense. Not sure if 3wks/3wks are advertised anywhere outside HNA Group. After breaking off, the latest WestAir leaflet only offers 6w/3w or 20:10.