wow, things sound really bad at eastern!

When I first joined the company years back, the money was ok, expenses were paid on time and people were reasonably happy, we evern had a couple of pay rises (below inflation), an christmas bonus and bottle of wine sent for easter etc

Tracy was the crewing manager and was brilliant at helping people with days off and getting things done, but she ran the crewing dept by herself as the rest were a load of idiots who didnt have a frickin clue.

I was their for 3 years and left to fly jets, and oh boy am i glad i did!

I think if Ricky Lake actually knew how his airline was being run, im sure he would be shocked!

I wonder if they binned that little gobby baldy welsh guy it would be an ok place to work?

Latest rumours:

Abz will close as a jetstream base. Jobs been offered internally for all types. So it could mean a few jobs for new starters soon depending on what happens with crews been shifted around.

For any low houred new starts might be a start up on the ladder. It's crap but it's better than the dole, just.

The e135 offer I got wasn't!

Left, I know a few who said no to either seat

Anybody know if Mat Herzberg (Ops manager) is still there??

Oh Yes, Matthew is still about, every pilots friend, though not in the front line quite as much these days.

I'm just really surprised that Flybe havn't put serious effort into Aberdeen. - Double pronged approach - A recruitment roadshow at the Thistle, and a couple of east coast routes would prob90 fatally wound Eastern.

Isn't he just!. Pilots, engineers and crewing, unless you worked in Ops, he didn't like you!!

Maybe a pilot ran off with his girlfriend :)

Or perhaps he is a failed pilot.

Either way he has the inter-personal skills of a rabid dingo with pms. Still that means he fits in well at Eastern, I think he tries to follow in the owners footsteps.

Clueless is a term that sums up the office at Humberside.

There certainly doesn't seem to be much strategic planning of crew movements. Maybe if as much effort was put into that as there seems to be in chaos managing the schedule minute by minute, Lake could afford to give the crews a payrise with the money saved on hire cars and hotac.

Pennypinching - crew positioning to Stockholm for charter, fly to Stockholm? No, fly to Gothenburg and get the train!

Sounds like Eastern are trying to build up the charter side of their business. They already have some very high profile customers including premier football teams and rock bands.

Ironic that such well paid people are being flown around by demoralised over worked crews who are probably some of the lowest paid in Europe.

Anyhow back on topic, update your CVs another Embraer soon to be delivered and some of the guys who have been doing other jobs in the company are starting flying soon. Coupled with the fact that everyone in the company seems to have CVs in with other employers ready for the upturn there could be room for a few more mugs. :D

Jobs have been offered internally for fleet changes but as that entails a new bond many of us aren't interested.

Yes they seem to be really pushing those charter contracts big time!

That is good news about the new EMB coming.

Could you possibly elaborate on that new bond you speak of ? I only ask because a friend may be starting with them soon and i'm a little skeptical.......well very!!

Cheers Wetdream:D

Charters
 

They may be doing loads of charters but the question is are they making money. Anyone can sell a charter to Rome for £100 (that's an extreme comment but you know what i mean).

Captain sox.
They are trying to encourage pilots onto the embraer, I guess as mentioned above because they can't recruit externally because they don't offer anything like a realistic package.

Trouble is if you change onto the jet you have to agree to a bond. Some have accepted this just to get the jet time on their cvs and some have refused it because they are no longer bonded and feel they will be able to leave soon anyhow without jet time.

There are now very few bonded pilots at eastern. The place will probably empty if there is much movement in the employment Market this winter.

Duty pay
 

Evening all.

Wondered if anyone could enlighten me about your duty pay:

Is it based on Fight Duty Hours or total Duty Hours?

If away from base overnight, do they (if its total duty based) pay it from when you first check in at your home base to when you arrive back at home base?

Do you get any other allowances away from base as standard eg per diems/meal allowances etc?

Think I can guess most of the answers, but as we're living in a world of guesswork, thought I'd see if I can find out some hard facts for a change.

It works out at about £1 an hour on duty.

If you have a night stop outside the UK then you get £25 a night, when I say 'you get' what I mean is you might get, if you keep nagging for it and you aren't too late putting your claim in.

Hope that helps.

Thanks Wetdream.

Given the amount of time Eastern crew seem to spend living in hotels that's cr@p.
Pot Noodles and Alpen bars for tea then I guess.

Eastern are getting another embraer in the very near future it's all agreed apparently.

Also there is now a new charter contract which is just he sam as the old one apart from 16 days away rather than 20 all for no more money than someone who gets home every night. :)

Under crewed as usual

Eastern crew get home every night?

We clearly getting messed around, I seem to be living in a certain scotish hotel at the mo, or waiting for taxis to take me to the wrong airport!

home every night
 

I now cant remember/work-out, where I am actually based.

Eastern Airways Recruitment?
 

Slight change of direction....But...
Does anyone know who is in charge of recruitment, really in-charge, ie chief pilots assistant etc?!

Can anyone shed some light on their recruitment plans? Cheers. :)

They have people in the hold people at the moment.

Salary
 

Salary is correct, FO's salary starts low but increases with service and hours.
If you want to be a direct entry Capt you will need oil & gas hours which are 4k total time & 2k Pic (preferably multi crew) Many FO's at eastern ready for command but screwed by the oil & gas requirements. Present situation is that Logan may take many of the Abz based Saab crews...So there may be Abz based jobs soon. There are better jobs , but if you're desperate ;)
On a positive note, Non compliance with Hat wearing regulations seems to have been relaxed :eek:

What is the minimum MULTI CREW PIC, they will consider for oil and gas work, if someone applied to them with lots of single crew pic?

I believe the hours requirements are to meet OGP / GDP which are 4000 total, 2500 PIC and 2000 MEPIC. FOs require 1000 total with 100 PIC. As stated previously there are many very capable and very experienced FOs in the company, with limited promotion opportunities due to the hours requirements above.

If you join as an FO expect to join the back of a long queue for command. If you're wanting to be a direct entry Captain, I hope you're very good, as you'll need to step up to match the quality of the FOs.

Whatever anybody says about the company and its conditions its a great first job for experience. When people leave, they all say they miss the camaraderie, which is missing in every company I can think that people have left to between the flight and cabin crew, who all muck in together at work and socially at Eastern. The crew are the biggest asset Eastern has.

Good luck to those that apply.

From UK Flights: Aberdeen, Cardiff, Leeds Bradford, Newcastle Flights | Eastern Airways career page,

'ATTENTION: There is currently a scam running regarding job vacancies. It has been brought to our attention that a company is posing as Eastern Airways' and posting job vacancies for people to join the Eastern Airways team. They are primarily aimed at Non UK Citizens. As part of the process the company asks for visa details and payment.
DO NOT respond to any job vacancy adverts if they ask you to send the application to [email protected]'

So let me get this right (and assuming the info on PPJN is up-to-date and correct)....for a newbie FO it's basically a SSTR costing 13k for the J41 or £15k for the S2000, in return for a starting salary of £21k? That's for a full 12 months salary, right......???

Most don't start at those levels as there was an hours increment.

So every 500 hours total time you get an extra lump.

Every 500 turbine time you get an extra lump.

Every 6 months you get additional service lump

So if you start with 1000 hours through instructing you already have 2 increments which were about 1500 extra.

Then in 6 months you would get another 600 odd.

If you were at a high hours base you were getting 1 TT and 1 turbine increments and 2 service one year and then next 2 total, 2 turbine and 2 service the next.

So the pay went up quite rapidly.

So you would never be on that starting salary for more than 6 months.

For all the faults of Eastern its a brilliant start to your career. Yes you will be shafted by crewing and get mucked around a lot for what seems to be low pay. But it is a job, you do get trained well, there are some nice folk work for Eastern and the pay gets OK within 24 months.

There are lots of ex eastern out there and most more than likely would never go back. But I am sure all of them will admit they had some good times and some good training when they were there.

Thanks MJ.

Hello guys, do you know any email address where to send an application for Eastern? I've send 10 emails to [email protected] and no reply.
I'm saab 2000 TR FO 1200 hrs on type 1400 TT and as I read on this forum they are looking for pilots.
Thanks

It may well be stating the obvious, but Loganair are about to start operating 3 Saab 2000s. They might reply to your emails.

Thanks, I know, actually they will start with the aircraft I delivered to NAC. EX Carpatair - SBD, SFB, SBJ. Perhaps they are not replying because of my nationality; or I should just wait. Will see.

radudumb:

Are there any regional operators in Eastern Europe who will take wannabee FOs?

I have 850 hours - current MEIR/MCC? Brit born & bred. Cannae get a look in anywhere in my northern home country...

covec

No, Eastern European regional airlines and not only regional are trying to compete with Wizz air....but no chance.
So for the moment no positions available in the dark side of EUROPE (Eastern) except Wizz, but who knows...maybe in the future.

What kind of pilots are they looking for? Do you have to live in the UK to be considered?

Hey guys,
I will be doing an interview at Eastern Airways soon. I am looking for somebody who is currently flying or has flown for Eastern Airways and who can tell me more about the application. Like what kind of questions do they ask in the personal and flight technical interview? I found on the web that they ask questions about aerodynamics and icing.
If somebody has more detailed information about their requiting process and interview questions I would be very pleased if you could let me know!
Thanks in advance

Anyone know which aircraft are based where at Eastern?

They are normally based somewhere else the minute you move there,canal barge or caravan a good option