hey Guys,
Currently on jet (corporate) , I try to figure out the pros and cons.
My main concern is that the A220 is not a TR so common and need to get a new TR if I want to move onto the A320 for example.
What about the bond ? 3 years ? for 36000 euros, is it correct ? (it is what I heard).
For me the positive points is the possibility to build hours quicker.
The cons : moving to Riga with a little family...

feel to share more informations and some points I may have missed.

Thanks a lot!

I'd say try Brussels Airlines and Air France over airBaltic.

The few I know at airBaltic have left or are about too.

Just some basic limitations. A little about a couple systems ( a couple tricky ones). Very few questions, just too see that you know the type you’re on.

What fleet are they on? How come they are leaving?

Roster, Roster and Roster, think twice if you want your family to move to Riga, if you have other options, take them.

6 on, 2 off, 6 on, 1 off, 7 on

If you like it like this give it a try, and yes, there are big differences between rosters for locals and others

As starters, from jet, an airline job would give you a boost in your career, so the A220 is not bad at all. If you are considering it, then do proper research specially since you are thinking to bring your family to Riga. Don't take me wrong, I liked Riga, but I was single, I'm no sure if with family is good (but that just me).

If you are looking to build hours and have a "better rating" then you should try RYR, WZZ (who are bonding you the rating), i honestly don't know about EZY thought. And yes, rosters , check the rosters.

I just want to chip in that international schooling in Riga is VERY expensive and the company will not chip in for that. So if your kids are of that age then you´d find yourself pay most of your salary in tutoring fees unfortunately.

DEC Q400
 

My current offer (initial email from them) says 5/4 5/3 guaranteed roster...

Not sure if it's all true or not.
Also I heard this confirmed 1.5 years captain on Q400 and then upgrade to A220 also has slowed down and it's longer wait due to delayed delivery?

Any news on that?

Any A220 fleet pilots in here?

I have few questions, PM if you can pls.

Cheers.:hmm:

hey Guys,

thanks for your inputs, though, I see you mention a lot about the roster but how about on A220 ? what roster to expect..?

The roster is non-commuting unless you take the 5/4 - 5/3. So far it has not been very popular because you lose bidding if you take it. As for the slower move to A220 => Nothing has been stated by the company except max 1,5 years on the Q400. The rest is just speculation.

Do not trust anything they tell you, there is a big gap between promises and real life. As fas as I know they just try to trick people to sign the contract and thereafter they will not remember to have made any promises at all.

Ask yourself why they hire all year long. As soon as people realize that they have been fooled they try to leave as soon as possible.

At least none of the guys I know did pay anything back as according to latvian law any kind of bond is illegal.

Hi everyone.

There is a lot of truth in what is said by @Jabulani and I am someone with a bad experience, just facts after 1 year there.

Fixed roster is only for DEC Q400 but you lose bidding yes and the captain bonus (of course they can't play with you so no bonu), but I know a CPT who choose it and he is happy. So to switch to CPT A220 they promise 18months (after line check) and if they can't respect it (bonus).

Concerning A220 :
No fixed roster at all ! 4days off in a row granted a months (not always when you want them... bidding is a dark world).

Summer is crazy to be honest, we are short of pilots so never bellow 85 block hours (from May to October included) with 8 days off or 7, about 10 to 15 nights outstation and no vacation during this period...
In winter it's more 5/2 5/4 5/2 and less nights outstation (I had 5 max)

Life in Riga:
As said above, moving to Latvia with a Familly can be a challenge as FO A220 with all the nights outstation, late CheckOut and early CheckIn around days off etc etc, so it's hard to commute as well , or you aren't from far away and close to airport.
Riga city is very nice, I like it a lot, in summer is super cool to just seat on a terrasse with friends etc.

As a conclusion I would say that to built quickly hours and experience it's a good company, working in a multi culture environment is a good point, but your social life will be reduce for sure..

Good luck,

Hi All,
I was wondering if someone can provide some more information about the on line test runned by Air Baltic ? what is it about ? are there Math or physic problems ? What else how much time ? is there a web site where it is possible to practice ?
Thank you in advance for your reply
FGF

Hi there , hope you are doing great.
Appreciate any feed back for the on line test ??

Have a great day ahead.

Happy landings !!!!

Hello! Will be the next 3 days in Riga for the assessment, anyone else going? in case someone want to meet for a beer drop a line! :)

Hi! Hope the assessment went good for you! can you please provide a feedback on how it was? Thanks!!

I passed a220 assessment a few months ago and it was easy. They were looking mostly at your attitude and crm skills.
After signing the contract and completing my conversion course and receiving uniform and airport pass i was fired without a reason. While being fired they mentioned something crazy like my ethnicity and background wasn't clean and white enough for them - don't know what it means whatsoever as i have a very solid background with reputable EU airlines.

I have no words...

Free A220 rating at least?

I got a free writing pen and nice welcome postcard with a220 picture that says "future begins now")

Aww, too bad. I've worked with companies that were disorganized to the point where contracts that included bonding agreement were only asked to be signed after the typerating had already been completed, leaving the door wide open for people to walk away with a free rating. So I was kinda rooting for you :p.

In all seriousness though, sorry for such an experience. Racism is quite alive in certain groups of people in the Baltics.

Is Air Baltic still flying the 737 and taking on 737 FO / captains?

would you not think that if this was in any shape or form racism related, he wouldn't get past the HR? Plenty of ethnicities and backgrounds represented in the company. People who get booted from the company course tend to be (and I'm not suggesting that this is the case) either with poor attitude, skipping courses, being late without notifying anyone - or - people who show up under influence.


4 are to remain till the end of next year. Hiring situation is very dynamic as the fleet now is so small, so today they're not hiring, tomorrow they might, if a spot opens up. Temp positions only

I have to provide for my family and can't afford to be late or drunk or have a poor attitude. I am glad you had a good experience with BT, but it doesn't mean i was as lucky as you are.

like I said, I'm not suggesting you had a bad attitude, it's just something that sometimes happens. Another thing to look at, did you met the requirements in the first place and were the evidence of this presented to the company in a clear way? Some of the requirements for A220 FO position include EU citizenship (I understand you don't have it from your other posts?), 300 hours on an FMS/EFIS equipped aircraft above 5.7 tonnes (again, I understand you have a ATR72 and B300 rating but limited hours on them?).. Of course it's not nice from the company to accept you in the first place and only then to reject you because you didn't match the requirements, but part of the responsibility lies down to you as well to make sure that your citizenship and experience on the specified type is clearly visible on your resume and that you apply to a position only if you match the criteria.

I have enough experience, in fact double of what was needed and all was proven by official reference letter from my previous airline. And my citizenship was first thing they asked during the interview, not to mention i am a legal resident with the right to work in EU. BTW, they also told me that my citizenship will be exception as i showed a very good results during my assessment.

This conversation is going off topic and since i don't want to discourage anyone from applying lets not escalate it.

Where is/are the A220 sims based? I know they have a 737 Classic sim but also an A220?

They are using the sim in Frankfurt at Lufthansa training. A few weeks ago they also assembled their own A220 FFS in Riga but it will take time to get all the paperwork and certification.

Hello,
Has anyone recently completed the online IQ assessment?
Is there a good website where to practice?
Thanks :)

Captains? No. They are keeping a few line trainers on board and the rest are being moved to the A220.
FO´s? Almost everyone is being moved to the A220 or Dash. Wouldn´t be surprised if they keep accepting P2F though.

Hi there,

Anyone done the Tech interview and SIM for the DEC on the Q400? Any info would be highly appreciated.

Hi guys,
I'll do psychologic, technical interview and sim check next month for Q400 FO and I'd like to know some feedback about those days.
I'd like also to know some more information about roster, salary, environment, life in Latvia etc.
Could anyone help me please?

Thanks in advance.

Hi, also interested in some info about the airline, especially roster on Q400. I heard around 60h/month, how many days off ? Are they often paired/tripled ? Is there any commuting possibility with the Q400 roster at BT ? Thank you

Around 60h a month is about right. A little more in summer, little less in winter. Depends a little bit on how you bid as well, I've seen guys scoring 90 hours and some just 30, but in general they are trying to equalize hours between people. Days off - minimum is typically 8, if you're lucky some months you might see 9 to 11. They have to give you a block of 4 days off per month, the rest is scattered across the roster. New captains can get a deal with a fixed 5/4/5/3 pattern with a caveat that you loose captains bonus and bidding. For FO's there is no bonus or fixed roster. Commuting with non-fixed roster is possible only if you live somewhere near by in the Baltics. There is no clear pattern for rosters. You can get an early start at around 6am and finish anywhere between 12pm to 6pm. Late start can begin anywhere between 11am to 5pm and finish at 10pm-11pm. Then you have short night stops starting at 10pm, spending some couple of hours in a hotel in an outstation and returning the next morning at around 6 to 7 am. Then you have layovers in Helsinki, Palanga, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Turku, rarely Vilnius.. Or you can be sent to Tallinn to do up to 4 nights in TLL and fly from there

Salary wise what is listed on https://www.pilotjobsnetwork.com/jobs/Air_Baltic is roughly about right.

Q400 is not the easiest aircraft to fly, the climate we operate in throws in additional challenges, roster is difficult, salary is on the lower end of the scale. On the other hand, planes are maintained in excellent condition, upgrade opportunities are probably one of the best in EU and personally I think in terms of job security I feel a bit more confident here than I would in most carriers in EU (our load factors are at around 75% and our ticket prices are not the cheapest ones around)

Cost of living in Latvia is probably a fair bit lower than in most places in Western Europe, it is generally safe, people don't riot, don't have any sort of extremists running around etc. On the negative side, winters are dark, cold and long, coming here with family and children can be difficult as international schools are expensive and hard to find.

Thank you for those very detailed info. In fact, If not commuting, i was interested in being able to go back to Germany quite often on days off to see my family there, but still having a place to live in Riga. If days off are always single, it can be quite tricky, but if they at least come in pairs, it is far more doable. I suppose there is absolutely no way for a FO to negotiate a fixed roster. What can you bid in the system : flights, days off, everything ?

And do you have any idea on how many FOs they need for the Dash fleet ? It might be quite low... Is there a pool ?

We connect with Germany quite well, there are multiple flights a day going to Munich, Berlin, Diseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg etc, you will also have access to ID (staff) travel that will give you serious discounts on other carriers, such as Lufthansa, so I would say Germany shouldn't be a problem as such. I read that your location is Rome and that could be a bit more problematic. They will pair 2 days off as well whenever they can.

Bidding wise, you can bid on days off, flights, layovers etc. Some people who commute like to bid for a night stop followed by a day off, so they finish a flight at 7am in the morning and go straight to next aircraft that will take them home. Some other people bid for TLL layovers, this way you can get a decent work week with plenty of flights that result in more days off.

Regarding FOs, there is no pool as far as I know. We have about 50 FOs on dash at the moment. We need probably about 60. The very first Pilot Academy group is about to finish and they will all start on the dash in the next few months, there's 12 people there. At the same time lots of guys on the top of the seniority list are very close to moving on to the left seat and the guys in the middle will move to the Airbus. Realistically I expect to see a massive movement in the next half a year or so. If they are recruiting, the vacancy is there. You also have to take into account that if they hire you tomorrow, it will probably take around 2 to 3 months before you even get close to the aircraft - company course and type rating takes time!

Hi I have been invited 8th of December for the assessment in Riga , anyone invited too ? Any suggestions or tips for the assessment on the Q400?
about the online test for those who asked it was quite straight forward with some English idioms some easy math problems and some shapes where you need to choose the different ones.

Hello everyone,
I have the assessment on the 8th of December too. Does everybody go through the b737-300 sim? What kind of air-exercise should we expect?

Thank you in advance

Takeoff (be sure to check rvr not to low), follow radial outbound and answer some basic math questions like - give estimate arrival time of outbound 30 miles and return. then maybe few tcas ra and engine failure. On first approach expect go around with special one engine out departure procedure and maybe windshear. Not very hard though few people occasionally crash in windshear)