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Cityjet direct entry Captain

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Cityjet direct entry Captain

Old 19th Nov 2015, 16:52
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WMB
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Cityjet direct entry Captain

Cityjet are offering direct entry Captain on the 146, if anyone has any information on the company, or the 146? It would be much appreciated.
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Old 19th Nov 2015, 18:06
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146 is an ancient beast, and frankly a delight to fly! I miss my time on them greatly. Finding spares that actually work though......
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Old 20th Nov 2015, 07:13
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Is it the basic 146 or the RJ100. Whats the pay like ?
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Old 20th Nov 2015, 09:00
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As far as I know they are RJ85, and the base is London City. I have been told that there are quite a few night stops, and the roster is 6/3. Salary is more or less the same as that posted on PPJN. The main drawback as I see it is the cost of accommodation in London.
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Old 21st Nov 2015, 01:15
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If hired you probably won't fly the venerable Avro for too long:

https://www.cityjet.com/news/cityjet-to-take-delivery-of-15-superjet-ssj100.shtml

I have a few mates who have flown the Avro over the years for various operators and they all enjoyed it. It's not speedy, but the mix of old and new avionics and the great handling won them over. I know a few Cityflyer pilots who live East of LCY and it works well for them despite the cost.
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Old 22nd Nov 2015, 11:11
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The RJ is a great aircraft to handfly, but it is old, smelly (oil leaks into the packs...) and unreliable. It's also unnecessarily complicated, with lots of gotchas. But it's bullet proof (probably literally) and there is no aircraft I'd rather be for a major failure.

The airline is has some major plans for the future, however LCY based pilots will probably not be moved onto the SSJ until 2017. It also does not seem clear at this stage that these future plans are of value to pilots other than that they get to keep their jobs while working harder for less money.

The roster hasn't been 6:3 in LCY for a couple of years. The pattern changes every season (LCY only), but has been so changeable that you will struggle to plan anything beyond the present roster. LCY guys have averaged around 109-112 days off this year (vs 122 on a stable 6:3 in other bases). A number of guys have been on 7:2:7:2 patterns recently, all of which are 7 days trips. They will still call you up to work your days off.

Annual leave has always been awkward - you need to request 6-12 months in advance at specific times. It is unlikely that you will get what you request anyway. If they don't issue it, they will tell you that you didn't use it and you may be told that you will lose it.

The salary in ppjn is probably more or less correct because it hasn't changed since 2009. Pay is weighted towards sector pay, but since a 15% cut in 2009 there has only been a 2% increase (in basic only) earlier this year. Despite hemorrhaging experienced guys the main effort seems to be on putting pressure on the remaining guys to work harder. This has had a spectacular effect on retention. To my knowledge they've only managed to recruit 2 DEC's.

Almost all the First Officers you fly with will be 150h cadets. They're nice, but, well, they're the guys and girls who failed to get a job flying an airbus or 737 (why else would you pay for an RJ rating?). It's a complex aircraft, LCY is a cat 3 airport, and FMRS can't be used to plan the rosters because they could't operate the schedule if they did....

Uniquely for LCY routes, you will have to wait for scheduled transport to pick you up to got to hotels - even on minimum rest overnights. You'll need to plan carefully for early starts as well - a number of hotels don't supply more than a croissant and coffee to get you through the day. Crew food is also fun - until recently it was a pot noodle and a kitkat. It has improved very marginally - the pot noodle has been replaced by cold rubber chicken that no-one eats. .

LCY had a great bunch of people, and had the best atmosphere of the CityJet bases, but almost everyone has left recently, so there's not so much of that left any more. It's mainly exhausted new captains and starry eyed youngsters these days.

You will be required to use your own mobile to sort out the numerous problems that crop up with the operation. You will be given an ipad based EFB which is OK, though the UI is less than intuitive, and the app crashes if you rotate the screen :-/

However, they will honor the roster, there is no rostering agreement so you are not obliged to accept changes, they will always pay you correctly and on time, and, well, it's not the best, nor the worst paid job in aviation. Yet. Though that does appear to be the objective - on reflection, I'm not sure that this is where one wants to find oneself during the next downturn.

Feel free to PM me.

Last edited by Wash; 22nd Nov 2015 at 19:47.
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Old 22nd Nov 2015, 17:56
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Thanks for the reply its good to get an honest appraisal of a company. To be honest I have been looking at accommodation and commuting costs, unfortunately they account for a very large chunk of your salary. A move to Jet would be nice, but I need it to make economic sense as well......
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Old 22nd Nov 2015, 19:46
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Much as I love the RJ, it barely counts as a jet, especially the way that they'd want you to fly it. You'll frequently find yourself being given vectors out of the way of faster traffic, defeating the point of the fuel policy, but anyway, that's a different story.

It will get up to Fl350 though....on a good day, at ISA-10 and no-one in the back

Meh, the aircraft's fine; it's very, very easy to fly - centerline thrust, 4 engines, bulletproof systems, an undercarriage that flatters landings and can take a real beating.

The company, on the other hand, has been on a path for some years to discourage as many people from staying as possible. To my simple mind, is seems strange that they've canceled flights because they don't have crew, but other than attempt to hire direct entry guys, they've accepted the losses and done nothing to make it a place that anyone would actually want to stay.

In terms of the recent 'management change', the new Chairman appears to have a plan to turn the commercial fortunes of the company around. However, as far as crew are concerned, he's pretty much the only new face; the rest of management, policies and general approach has seen no change.

Oh, I should add that the pay freeze that was in place 2009-2015 was quite unique amongst airlines; not only did all the salaries stay the same (and allowances drop by 15%), but everyone stayed on the same grade they were on. In other words everyone's actual take home pay remained exactly the same for 6-7 years (depending on when you last had a pay rise in 2008). There was a pay rise of 2% on basic in mid 2015. There have apparently been pay talks going on for a while - at least 5 years - but, well: 2% over 6 years......

I'm not trying to discourage you from joining (the poor guys still there need all the help they can get); just be aware that it is what it is.

Last edited by Wash; 22nd Nov 2015 at 20:32. Reason: more info, clarity
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