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SunExpress Recruitment

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SunExpress Recruitment

Old 16th Apr 2015, 21:56
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Sunexpress interview?!

Hello everyone,

I have a interview at Sunexpress, Turkey coming up next month. I'm preparing for the Mollymawk and simulator session right now. What I wonder is, how to prepare for the interview.

This is my first interview for an airline. I really would appreciate if anyone have some advice on what to read and how to prepare for the personal/technical interview?

Take care
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Old 17th Apr 2015, 14:37
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SunExpress Recruitment

Get the book Airline Pilot Interviews by Irv Jasinski I have not failed an interview after I read and used it
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Old 22nd Jun 2015, 12:47
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Question

Hello,

can somebody tell me something about the actual working conditions in SunExpress!?

How does an average roster for a pilot with base Ankara look like?
Is the roster stable?
How many hours do you fly per month in Ankara base?

On the commuting contract are the 7 cons. days OFF fixed or will they change often, so can you plan your trip back home well in advance?

How much is an appartement in Ankara?

Is it possible to change to SunExpress Germany when you are employed with them in Turkey?

Thanks for your answers in advance!

Best regards
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Old 22nd Jun 2015, 13:01
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From the guys I know there:

Extremely unstable roster. Expect having your off days changed even with only a day or two of notice. If you have a two sector day, they can legally force you to fly another two legs and this happens frequently.

60-70hrs of flight but at least 2-3x flight duty time since the flights are so short. Alot of night duties with three hours at the hotel between the flights.

The seven days off are usually confirmed in advance but the rest of the roster is published at the end of the month for the upcoming calender month. The roster is very bad. Also you get a late checkout the day before your block and early checkin the morning after, rendering two days per block Useless. Also there is zero flexibility.

An apartment is 700-1000eur pm.

You need to be perfectly fluent in German and also have a permission from the management to goto SunExpress Germany. If they need you in a base for which they cannot find pilots (such as ankara) then they won't let you go easily.
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Old 23rd Jun 2015, 04:52
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Thanks for your answers!

Do you have those 20 days of holiday also on the commuting contract?

I'd like to join SunExpress Germany but I don't have experience on the 737!?
So I'm thinking about taking the offer in Turkey and try to change to Germany with some hrs on the 737!??
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Old 23rd Jun 2015, 07:56
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Originally Posted by Climb360
Worth a try, but don't assume you will be able to switch to Sunexpress Germany soon. Many people are waiting to make that move.

Have you also applied directly to Sunexpress Germany via Interpersonal? And I have heard they took on some ex-cabin crew members last Winter, so that may be something worth looking into.
Yes I also applied directly to them but according interpersonal they are only taking pilots with 737-Rating at the moment...
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Old 23rd Jun 2015, 15:21
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738 I believe Sigma have all the details of the SXS Turkey contract, but from the guys we meet transiting home they seem to get 7 days off, finish late, start early so in effect they can have 5 days at home. From Ankara many travel to IST to commute back but if loads are heavy they may not get on flights, but there is other choices as SXS has same ID network as THY. No annual holiday is given as the contract is commute. Beware that according to Turkish SHT OPs, days off are proportional to days worked, therefore if the minimum is 7 days a month off, in theory you could work 6/1 6/2/6/7. Looking at the schedule for Anadolu Jet from ESB, its more like an office job, no real early flights ( before 6 local) and no latex, occasional ( open duty) where you leave ESB late, hotac 4/5 hours and travel back. But probably 2 a month max.Second part, NO you can't go to SXD as SXD recruitment is based on seniority and station demand, there are maybe 50 guys fluent in German that will be ahead in the queue. SXD is not so great for the money as its a 12 month/paid 8 Months gig ( or 75 %) but with a 100% roster.
Hope that helps
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Old 26th Jun 2015, 20:07
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7 days off blocks are confirmed in June and December for next 6 months and company does not change them, swaps are possible. Issue with losing off days for travel has been taken to mgmt, there was agreement there should be early finish before commuting off-block and late start on fırst day back ın ESB and it has worked last couple of months.

Roster has all the stability of hog on ice and currently commuters are flying anything between 40 and 75. Last summer ESB was oversubscribed so typical month would involve about two weeks of AnadoluJet flying from Ankara, six days of SXS flying from AYT and two days of redtail ops from SAW (usually LGW and VIE) with rosters sometimes just getting a bit northward of 100 hr - yes, I'm still talking about commuting contract. This summer quite a few folks moved to AYT and ADB so ESB capts haven't seen layovers so far except short ones in Trabzon, Antep and such. Rumor has it in autumn Anadolujet will start international ops from Ankara but whether it's true and if it will be operated by SXS, remains to be seen.

700-1000 € for apartment is realistic price for decent part of town with numerous waterholes where expats tend to congregate. As apartments in Turkey usually start at 100 sqm, you can comfortably share such a flat with roommate, or settle down in not-so-attractive neighborhood for 350€pm.

Contract specifically stipulates that 7 days off are given in lieu of annual vacation. Unpaid leave can be requested and is liberally granted outside summer season.
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Old 15th Jul 2015, 18:10
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Sun Express Recruitment

Hello evreybody,

I sent my application to Sun Express Turkey and after some weeks I received an e-mail asking me some documents like photocopy of licences, diplomas, medical certificate and so on...I sent evrything and now are passed about two weeks but I didn't still receive any answer.
Is there anybody who made this step and can tell me how many weeks waited for some answer?

Thanks a lot!!
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Old 16th Jul 2015, 15:31
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I expect like THY being in the middle of the high season there is no capacity for interviews or selection. What little capacity was left at SXS has been hoovered up with converting THY guys to SXS for temporary summer contracts. Probably after October things will start to move again on the recruitment fronts. We have courses planned from Feb,March 2016. Priority now is to finish the existing guys.
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Old 17th Jul 2015, 18:23
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Thank you very much for your answer!
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Old 18th Jul 2015, 19:48
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TURKISH AB INITIO PILOTS WANTED
(Ref:0000ABI)


Qualifications
SunExpress, Turkey’s leading private carrier focused on international and domestic flights, and Stella aviation International, an international high quality training organisation join forces!

To accommodate their growing fleet of modern Boeing 737NG’s and the expanding network of SunExpress new professional pilots are needed. We are therefore looking for well motivated candidates with the Turkish nationality who want to become airline pilot with SunExpress.
SunExpress offers job guarantee after successful completion of the training
Study financing is available;
High quality training according to the latest International training philosophies and standards. The training takes place in Turkey and The Netherlands; Training duration approx. 18 months;
Training starts in 2015.

Interested candidates will be invited to information sessions which will be organized at various locations in Turkey. After the information sessions candidates will be invited to undergo our pilot selection to ensure that they have what it takes to successfully complete the training and get one of the most wanted jobs in the world!

Admission Qualifications of the candidates;
Date of birth: 01-09-1985 or later with a maximum of 29 years;
4 year University degree (equivalent qualification certificatioin for foreign degrees) Prefarable highschool degree with matematics and physics
More than 4 years postponement of the Turkish Military Service is accepted, preference is completion of the Turkish Military Duty (for male candidates)
Possession of a valid passport without restrictions and able to obtain any visa;
Health Requirements: Must meet the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex-1 and JAR FCL 3 Commercial Airline Pilot requirements.


PLEASE NOTE " TURKISH PILOTS"


FIRST OFFICER
(refSBOP05)
Genel Nitelikler

We are looking for Turkish First Officers and a good team member, who will be based in Antalya or Izmir
Min age of 21 years
Min CPL (A) / IR (A) Licence and IR on multi-engine aircraft
Have MCC course
ATPL (A) theoretical knowledge exams passed
Have a valid JAR FCL 3 class 1 medical certificate
English language proficiency for F/O candidates must be;
TOEIC (Reading 385, Listening 400, Speaking 160, Writing 150)
TOEFL IBT (Reading 22, Listening 21, Speaking 23, Writing 21)
Have university degree
No obligation of military service for male candidates
İş Tanımı
Şehir/Ülke: Ankara, Antalya, İzmir
İlan Tarihi: 18.07.2015
Personel Sayısı: -
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Old 2nd Aug 2015, 11:32
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Well guys as a pilot who has worked for Sunexpress for 2.5 years, i can tell that; whatever you read in this forum(as in bad meaning) about Emirates, multiply it by 5 for Sunexpress.
Unstable rosters, cruel management, and unpolite cockpit crew. As in unpolite i mean most of the old captains have been covering for the company because they already have a pension salary from military + getting paid by Sunexpress with really good terms and conditions. If you say something bad about the company they are the first ones who will turn against you. Actually it was like that until last year. Now everone is complaining. As opposite of other companies, whatever you sign for they do not change your terms as of any other crew member. Like there is a first officer who has 14 days of annual leave excluding saturdays and sundays, however if you join from now on it will exclude only sundays.
Things are getting really worse here and most of the pilots already started for other options. Some have already made deals with other companies, so in the right time the resignations will start raining.
If you need details i can answer any specific question you ask under this thread.
The only thing i can say is the Antalya, Istanbul and Izmir bases are working like horses and both cockpit and cabin crew are already exhausted. All immune system down and people started getting sick(heart attacks, high blood preasure, ear nose throat problems) due to high working frequency. They can even count your medical ground days as days off, so they can schedule you less than minimum off for the rest of the month.
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Old 3rd Aug 2015, 15:57
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I have friends still working there and they are mostly thinking about leaving, I was thinking about going there but apparently they have their own very creative interpretations of the duty time limitations. Told to stay away. These I've heard in second hand but some guys can maybe confirm the following statements?

Several night duties in a row and after coming back in the morning, sometimes they even schedule you to fly on the same afternoon.

12hrs of standby duty per day (standby is not counted as duty time there) and apparently they demand you sometimes to start a flight duty before your standby even has begun and sometimes even after it has finished...

All limits are based on calender months, if you take vacation, flying for eg. 125 hrs in 4 weeks is possible when you return.

Off days are often changed with one day notice, with the excuse that you have more then the legal limit of 7 already and should be greatful.

Sick days are counted as off-days, and I couldn't even understand the sick reporting procedure.

Non existant fatigue management system.

An official rule prohibiting more than three consecutive off-days to be fair to office workers making commuting impossible. They (at least used to) have a commuting base somewhere in middle of Turkey but when I checked, there were no proper flights to Europe from there.

2+2+1+1+1 off days

Their competitors offer much better T&Cs

I'm an oldish guy and the roster and my health is the most important thing for me so I passed the alternative. Good luck to any takers.
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Old 8th Aug 2015, 19:01
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The contract of Sunexpress is a disaster. First two years, there is no notice period. They only way out is to pay the number of the months remaining multiplied by 6000 euros. Guys, check the contract carefully. It is very misleading.
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Old 23rd Aug 2015, 14:02
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Dear guys
Any information about DEC ? How is the terms and conditions ?
Special thanks inadvanced if anybody shares his information to me.
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Old 25th Aug 2015, 10:54
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Capt143 can't you read?
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Old 26th Aug 2015, 06:18
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As cucuotto said read the Post's above. I agree with APUinop post, I would like to get back on a Boeing but I will pass this one up.
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Old 26th Aug 2015, 07:06
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Cool Not so bad

OK Guys, I'm an insider as well and not always happy about the company but we have to be honest, these days all low costs even in Europe have T&C that are far away from the majors. If you look for Majors conditions, go to a major…

Positive of Sun Express (from my own point of view) :
1. Crew are very friendly if you come with a positive mind. I've done three other company already and SXS has been the best one for this.
2. Management not annoying if you stay away from them. At least in Ankara, no management directly here. If you fly stable approach they'll leave you alone. I'm flying Raw data and visual approaches every day if I can, never got any problems.
3. Good salary (Full time) : Basic today is 6700 after taxes. Never got less than 7500. In Summer, average this year 9500 (but see as well negative points below about fatigue)
4. Chief pilot doing is best to accommodate reuest (I didn't get paid to say this really ) In three years here almost, never got refused annual leave or Three days off request. Some days off had been changed to duty and after a quick call was changed back to normal)
5. TL Going down which makes your salary in local currency getting increased by more than 15% in 6 month time ( !! It can go the other way )

Negative :
1. Heavy roster and related fatigue. 950 Hrs per year or Max duty limit ; Reached two years in a row. But you call fatigue and make a safety report about it and you get your days changed. They are not happy but nobody got slammed for doing it.
2. Dead head and other work like CBT, … not counted as duty (supposed to be changed next year)
3. Awful drivers for transportation company (But you have free transportation which is positive)
4. Stability of the region : you will fly as close as 8 nm from Syrian border and you can check the latest news about this area on BBC

In General, if it was to do again, I would go again for a good and free type rating, friendly atmosphere at work and cheap country to live in. I recommended the job for many friends and no one complains as they knew what to expect. Join, do your 2 years contract and bond and get your 1500 Hrs Boeing then go somewhere you expect better conditions. This is a very good transition Company, you will have plenty of good and bad memories (I would say like in every company in the world) or wait to join BA, AF, LH or whatever and you will still meet plenty of people complaining about working conditions.

I think the best would be to fly for fun at 50% somewhere and have your own company doing something completely different and enjoy both of them. that's the plan of many pilots out here
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Old 26th Aug 2015, 07:40
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I cannot really understand your post. Low cost in Europe offer now local contracts with all perks ( pension, health care) and fixed predictable pattern roster plus higher salaries and good life style. You cannot fly max 950 hours per year with EASA FTL.. SXS is just another ****** up turkish airlines for cheap desparados P2F accepting all kind of **** and lowering the bar of this profession....but as you say you are a gipsy.
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