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 :)

SunExpress Recruitment
 

Get the book Airline Pilot Interviews by Irv Jasinski I have not failed an interview after I read and used it

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

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.

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!??

Yes I also applied directly to them but according interpersonal they are only taking pilots with 737-Rating at the moment...

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

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.

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!!

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.

Thank you very much for your answer!

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
(ref:ESBOP05)
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: -

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.

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.

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.

Dear guys
Any information about DEC ? How is the terms and conditions ?
Special thanks inadvanced if anybody shares his information to me.

Capt143 can't you read?

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.

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 :eek:

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 ;)

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.

WxCpt
Well balanced post unlike the last nonsense.
The guys that came to THY from SXS miss the more friendly atmosphere on the other hand the rosters are more sympathetic to rest etc. One big positive with the THY/sxs group is the ID travel .ok it's standby but you can book multiple options and only use the ones you need and refunds are no issues . The European Loco:
Ryanair ( or guess my Base 1 in 3 chances )
EasyJet .good outfit if you can get your Base option and are typed if not it's expensive ball ache
NAS don't figure at all .just crooks
WiZz just raised Capt wages do you don't sell body parts to pay rent.
Compare living costs in TL with other parts of Europe and the weak TL is to your advantage.
OK downside, rosters, duty changes Forget instability and İSIS you can get problems anywhere that's why they are called terrorist !
If you have kids school is expensive for European schools.
As noted keep away from management they keep away from you.unlike many pompous arses in Europe .

Porkflyer has an irrational hate towards all turks for some reason. Together with a rich daddy's boy attitude where he looks down on everyone, I would be cautious basing any decisions based on his views, even though I admit that alot of what he says is true. But let's be a little less neurotic shall we?

It's a different culture, where you live to work, your schedule planners and human resource specialists makes €600 a month where they have a knife to their throats around the clock, where they will be on the street begging for the tiniest mishap. Don't expect miracles or much understanding when you complain about a night shift, making fifteen times of what they make.

WXCaptFedUp
Thanks a lot for your post. I found it fair and very useful. Your posts will help those who are looking for a right decision.
I will be more than happy if you share more information

Reply
 

Cucuotto, you should have problem reading my post.

If you call P2F making 9500€/month with a free of charge TR, you brain should be misleading you.

SXS is offering as well a good private health insurance which worth many european social security system. I've used it for my all family in private hospital with translater for patient, don't know if you would get the same service anywhere in Europe. But it looks like you are part of these fustrated guys loosing their time on Forum to complain about everything.

And about my Gipsy condition, i gave up since I join SXS... I was gipsy when flying not even for a low cost european company which treated several of us worst than anything yu can find in Turkey. If you don't like it, it's your right, stay home but give the opportunity to others to express their view.

And to complete my answer for others, new contracts have dropped this illegal bit about reimbursing the non worked period before end of contract. Nowadays, everybody has a three months notice starting from day one.
Yes, international school are awful'expensive.
More info for those interested by PM

I notice that all of the agencies (that I have seen), are only advertising Ankara base now...
I'm really only wanting Izmir or Antalya as I will be living with my young family... Is there still recruitment going on for those two bases?

I have an interview scheduled soon... can anyone confirm that the assessment is very similar to the write up about Sun Express Germany (few pages back)? Any other tips?

Thanks!

My friends over there are waiting to change base from ankara to other bases since a long time back. If you sign Ankara, you probably won't get another base since they won't find a replacement and everyone is resigning there. The charter days are over, they make their money by flying wetlease domestic for the government.

DirtyRat

As mentioned ESB is the normal recruitment location and it is highly unlikely AYT or ADB bases will be offered..the SAW and ESB crews whom fly mainly domestic are being used on layovers to AYT and ABD to do International flights ( mainly nights) as the company wants to balance flight and duty hours. The temporary return of the THY guys to SXS is considered sufficient crews for SAW AYT and ADB, hence Ankara being the advertised option for new joiners.

@WXCptFedUp

Thanks for your informative post. I got worried already reading all the other comments.

I have an interview coming up for a DEC NTR position. I would like to take the chance to come back to bigger airliners going away from commuters I am presently flying(I used to fly bigger jets in the past).

Some questions still remain open:

- If they assign you a base(Antalya,Ankara,...), do they pull you from there to fly at a different base? Or do you stick normally with your base?

- Do they provide normally transport to and from duty? Or do I need to organize myself some wheels?

- The only info regarding contract I got till now is this "7 days off in a row" thing. Do they change this 7 days regulary or is there a good chance you can organize your proceeding back home a bit upfront?

- They mentioned as well the Capt. salary on this commuting roster to be around 6400-6600 Euros. Is this already after tax or is this gross?


Good to hear that the crews are mainly friendly folks as I am used to that from my current company(the only good thing there to be honest).

Anything special I have to keep in mind during the interview(Mollymawk+Interview) and the Sim Session? Or is everything straight forward?

Thanks Gents!

Interview and assesment
 

Have assessment and sim coming up next month for TR Captain, any tips or help appreciated, thanks already for the factual and positive comments.

I have no hangers on to drag around, just me so interested in best place to live for quiet life but easy to get to work, like to fly so hours no problem, been on A320 for few years and got laid off, like it better than Boeing but need a job

Thanks

Commuter, I will try and answer:

The commuting contract is ONLY Ankara, not available any other base.

The salary is net

Occasionally crew are used at other bases but usually for only 2 days max to cover "open duties " of night flights. Open duty is late flight, 3/4 hours hotel then early return, although with the delays the hotac time can be nil.

Transport is provided by the company at main and any deployment base.

Roster is published towards the last working day of the month for home journey planning, but you can plan multiple ID travel and refund the ones you don't use.

If you finish on a late and start on an early that means your available time " at home" uses a day each way to travel. Some guys got caught out travelling back on a work day as the roster can change from an afternoon flight to a morning flight and it is best to be back at base the day before otherwise you are " no show"

Days off during working pattern are " proportional to days worked". So if you need 1 in 7 you can work 6 days on, 1 off, six on 2 off and then six on 7 off.

For Flydog, if you have A 320 rating go to Pegasus, you will also be able to be on a "commuting roster" from Istanbul base, Pegasus pay in Lira, but they pay Captains per sector bonus as well so the pay is much better.

Commuter you are unable to recieve PM.
Pm me when able

Well, if you are desperate enough to believe what is written in this trollfest going under "PPRuNe" moniker, here it comes:

SXS is definitively not "Pay-to-fly" gig. It is SSTR for F/Os but full basic salary is paid from training's day one. DECs need to provide either bank guarantee or deposit 15K€ with company, usually half returned after first year and half after second, interest free.

Charter days are absolutely not over and besides, most of the flights from ADB and AYT are flown as XQ scheduled.

Duty time regulations are just copy-paste of Turkish DGCA's SHT 6A-50. Yes, there are 12 hrs stbys with people called before and after end of assigned stby duty. Yes, after 11 hours duty, 10 hours rest is legal so people fly couple of nights in a row or after coming home at 3AM, get picked up again at 2 PM (seldom but it happens).

Off days that one hasn't specifically requested are fair game for involuntary forfeiture. There is sgt. Hartmanistic equality to it; it's the same for local, expat, captain, F/O or cabin crew.

Five days ago, change of roster to earlier check-in time was subject to acknowledgement by the crewmember concerned but I don't discount the possibility there are more knowledgeable folks around, with closer ties to management, that know better. Commuting days are sacrosanct but having early finish before them and late start after is subject to availability and goodwill.

Rule about not having more than three consecutive days is unofficial and with cooperation from planing department can sometimes be creatively circumvented but definitively not every (or every other) month so whoever gets full time contract won't be able to commute.

Salary is paid in Euros or TLs, your choice. Even if you choose to get Liras, it will be expressed in Euros and paid iaw exchange rate on the payday.

Never getting less than 7.5 K and averaging 9.5? Possible yet improbable. Commuters get fixed net 6.1K€ (that's basic that ends on one's account after catering for income taxes and social contributions) while on permanent contract, for minimal experience that the company accepts it is 6.4K€ and is increased both for command experience brought into company and years served with SXS. This summer most of the perms flew about 100-110 hours, base notwithstanding, while scatter among ESB commuters was 50-85 with no set rule who gets what. Best course of action is to budget on basic pay alone and not spend too much time dwelling on thy neighbour's roster or paycheck.

Every doctor I came across in Ankara speaks far better English than me and even reception staff at Bayındır Hastanesi has quite decent standard of English proficiency.

Where will you be based? That's something not even management can predict. Last I've heard is all fresh DEC intake is going to ESB but that's what was already planned in fall 2013. Summer that year saw SXS operating redtails from ESB and SAW. These were 738 painted in THY mainline colours, in THY two-class configuration, mostly doing international flights. Idea was to return them all to THY by winter and perhaps even close SAW. Whoops. THY couldn't accept all of them back and all of the sudden whoever wants to go to, until recently doomed, SAW can go there pronto. Last year SAW was again slated for radical downsizing so people were allowed to move to ADB and AYT. Sure, redtails went away but were replaced by Anadolujet bluetails. Whoops. Send some more bodies to Istanbul.

Every base gets layover in other bases. Whether you are at home or on layover, transportation to/from work is provided by company for every crew member. Last summer ESB roster usually included two flights from SAW and 4-5 flights from AYT or ADB to European destinations. This summer its usually just 2-3 nightflights from AYT or ADB.

Whoever joins, might become prisoner of Esenboğa for a long time or change three bases in two years. There's no way of telling.

If you wan't to come, apply straight to company, do not go via broker. It's faster and cleaner.

If you get called for interview, do all your homework (I mean literally: you will be given list of things to do before interview) and do it properly. Tech interview and sim are straightforward, tripping stone is usually psycheval. Psychologist wants to see that you are not faking or BSing, that you really are motivated to come over and she will put you under considerable stress, sometimes in extremely creative manner.

Of course, I do not work for SXS, I don't live in Turkey and I am no pilot at all. Everything you read here is just product of my imagination running wild and any similarity to real SXS is purely coincidental. If you choose to believe anything written here, you do it purely at your own peril or my name is not Keyser Söze.

Kirk Gussets=Parc/CAE

ICAO License
 

Dear guys
Is there any information about ICAO License holders ?
What is the procedure for those who are joining with ICAO license ?
Special thanks if any one has information about that and share it.

Dear guys
Anyone knows about the procedures to be taken for those who are joining with ICAO license ?
Any information about ICAO holders are appreciated
Kind Regards

Dear sir
Any information about ICAO license holders ? What procedure has to be taken for them ?

Sorry.

No procedures.

Foreign DECs have to be EASA-licensed, they fly on SHGM validations which are issued mightily promptly. Lot of SXS TREs have Dutch licences and are able to perform LPC for pilots from any EASA country.

Your information is outdated clandestino,

Rumour train is that shgm will now allow icao licences as well

Soon SxS will be truelly an international airline.

Turkey is becoming a paradise for "developing countries "pilot.. wait and see the outcome..

For quite a few years there is working system in place that enables EASA licence holders to fly TC- aeroplanes and now there is rumour that SHGM might allow the same for ICAO pilots.

I guess there are some meanings of "outdated" that I am completely unaware of but then I ain't no pilot and know just what is written on SXS careers site.