cityjet = very, very good money even for a F/O, cool plane or funy is better ! and very good first experience and that's it.

A lot of weird points for a medium airline like cityjet and own by a urge one (A/L, Roster, communication, crewing) should be fixed but it's not gonna change they just don't care I think, so get experience, few hundreds, hours on jet and leave.....to an other with other problems...

but obviously when you don't have a job it's just fantastic to start with....and then you have a roster, you call crewing....and blablabla....

having an interview with cityjet in few days for a DEC.
I am looking for informations about this interview and then the selection process.
If somebody can help !
thanks a million .

Hi Zorglub,
usually psychometric tests,appr0x 6,verbal reasoning,mathematical comprehension,spatial orientation.Very straightforward,and of course as we all know,,if your brilliant and score in the hi 90s,you wont get hired!,aim for mr average pilot,somewhere in the middle.Anyway,the tests are not a big deal.
Interview,usually with the chief bottle washer,and someone from HR.No technical questions,coz neither are tech minded.If your experienced they will be desperate for you to join,and thus will bombard you with promise about fixed rosters,free flights,loadsa time with your family etc etc...,,its quite transparent,and all bull.
If your a family guy,,,not the company for you.Single?,dont mind not getting A/L,and no fixed roster?,you might just like it.
London is where the big demand is for left seaters,but a disastrous base.(apart from the great crew there,who are now being blamed for delays etc,duh,,see rj tech ,see dispatchers!),
interesting to see the reaction to cityflyer starting LCY/DUB 3 times daily,and NICE.An expensive failure LCY,need any more pmme,,ciao...za

whats the latest in cityjet....gone very quiet here.....jetfella any news for us???

jetfella
If your a family guy,,,not the company for you. Strange, 2 Pilots i know leaving my airline for that reason, time off with family etc, hope not the grass is green job :\

quality of life
 

:confused:I believe the common thread for 95% of us 35-45yr old guys and gals,is the desire for quality of life.What does it mean?,a balance on giving what you can to your employer,and getting your down time in return,and a reasonable expectation that you will get a/l,and also that you wont be called on your days off with changes etc.Basically a chance to forget your a Pilot/Cabin Crew,for a few precious days,before returning to work refreshed,and not confrontational.
Few companies can achieve this ideal,but quite a lot have realised they need to keep the folks upfront sweet,and have improved conditions for employees.
Cityjet do no such thing unfortunately.Maybe its because they have hands full with legal actions left right and centre,maybe they are pressurising crewing staff too much.Whatever the reason,they,make a whole lotta promises and deliver diddly squat.The company is in a mess unfortunately,and it stems from the "air france" mentality.Meaning,historically,big brother has been there with wads of cash to bail em out.This is no longer the case in these days of rising fuel costs and fierce competition my friends!
You cant buy pilots nowadays,the lifestyle thing has to fit.
How many capts and f/os have had to scream down the fone,or be screamed at on a regular basis,when in fact,a simpler way exists.Noone in wx is smart enough to see this big picture.There exist a large band of merry men and women called "HR" at Wx,their job?,well,,thats the embarrassing bit,shuffle a pen between coffee breaks,catch the latest gossip,hang out in the corridor.It has never occurred to anyone of them apparently what HR actually means.
The top ten companies to work for,know exactly what it means.
Sure,not everyone is gonna be happy all the time,but a compromise can exist between company and employee,hence my reason for saying wx is not for a family guy/gal.
Perfect for a 250hr cadet,twentysomething,single,cut off my right hand for a job...but alas for the more experienced pilots,its just not an option,
anyway,its such a shame,because a smart whizzkid could stir that place up,but its not gonna happen.
too many dinosaurs......ciao za

One day or another you reap what you sow...

By the way, Jetfella there are now 22 people taking them to court in Paris. The investigation by the Gendarmerie des Transports Aeriens under the supervision of the O.C.L.T.I ( Office Centrale de lutte contre le travail illegal ) is still taking place : auditions of Paris based crew in ORY as well as CDG, Cityjet is slowly starting to pay for the C.R.P.N (retirement pension in France)... to quote a song : "Finally the tables are starting to turn
Talkin' bout a revolution"

gone very quiet
 

whats happening in wx all is quiet at the moment did the employees have success in there court case against the company?.has the conditions improved

LCY
 

Can anyone (particularly f/o`s) give me an idea of salaries, rosters, nightstops, future plans at LCY??

Cheers
Serenity.

Salary between 2500 and 5000 euros depends on experience for and S/O or F/O,

roster depends on months sometimes you're lucky guy so it's perfect sometimes you're the feelings to be the really bad guy just crap.

Roster now it's 4,5 or 6,7 days trip because we take over the paris network..a lot of overnights 12-16 a months a least till november (next schedule change) usually 6ON 3OFF depends, but guaranty for cpt and F/0 with 6 months in the company, S/O are F....ked

future euh the communication is so bad in the company that no one knows nothing !! even at the top of the management, AF gives orders and Cityjet does what AF wants !! it's the reallity the management people have 0 power.

Otherwise it's really good to start, as I said or wrote before get hours, APTL or commands, money and leave for bigger !! you cannot plan for age too unstable.

Good luke

I recently attended to the non aviation aptitude tests and what u can expect is just the common psichometric test, 4 parts plenty of numerical (not too difficult and reasonable time), then the sequences of 4 pictures and u gotta guess the next, then comes mechanical (ex: a system consisting of 3 gears with one of them given a cw o ccw movement and u must determine the way the last one will spin...) basicaly phisics grafical exercises and the last part the spatial (they show u a given geometric form in flat paper and then 4 possible views of the..say a cube and you choose the only one correct
After these 30 min coffee break and finally the personality questionaire, some 190 questions like 'I prefer stay at home and do some work on my own' or 'You cannot trust anyone cause they'll always deceive you' or sort of... The last 10 or 12 qs are verbal reasoning which weren't too hard neither (...even for me; a non english native)

The whole session was conducted by a friendly HR person, nice and easy going morning...

Results are ready in a week or so and if succesful they contact u quite in a short time for an interview...

Don't know what's next as haven't got any further (yet, I hope...)

I hope this helps, good luck!

Top tip... if you are thinking of joining CityJet then do so as a contractor and not as a employee. Far better deal as a contractor regarding rosters and the general quality of life.

no jacket or tie required, this directly from Ms Black :ok:

I would wear what I thought the interviewers would be wearing. If you are overdressed it's easy to lose the jacket and tie. If you are underdressed it can be difficult to find one on short notice.

In my 18 months as a contractor there I never saw management at the office with an open collar.

Just food for thought. Best of luck on the career.

leftbank
 

Based on my experience - good advice Ace. Interviewers had ties, jackets on back of chairs. Not sure that they were "Chief Cook and Bottle Washers", or even HR, as suggested elsewhere, seemed to know a bit about flying aircraft. A warm up few minutes on the CV for starters, why interested in CityJet etc. some operating scenarios leading to technical discussion, check on hours and quals, run through Ts&Cs. Friendly enough, hard to gauge success/fail.

I've been asked to post a couple of Qs by a mate (honest!) who's got an interview lined up at LCY with Citijet.

* What's the typical take-home pay (ie after tax, assuming it IS taxed!) for SOs and FOs?

* Do you have to self-fund RJ type rating training costs?

* If not, what are the bonding arrangements?

Cheers,

HW

You don't have to fund it yourself. You will be bonded for three years for total sum of 25.000E. So if you leave after one year you'll have to pay 16.666E, if you leave after two years you pay 8.888E.

For new SO's, first three months you get 1.000E net a month. Next three months ca. 2.500E net a month. Next six months ca. 3000E net a month.

FO's (so with at least 1500 hrs and ATPL): add to every figure about 1.000E.

Do most of the crews have a touring roster, ie can you apply for max night stops or minimum night stops. I have an interview cominig up for a direct entry command, and my main concern will be time away. Does Cityjet night stop in Birmingham. Thanks in advance

LCY and DUB people are on tours alot indeed. So 4, 5 or even 6 day trips. You can't really apply for max or min nightstops. So yes you will be away alot probably. CityJet does nightstop in BHX.

Birmingham nightstop
 

is pretty much minimum rest though, as are most, if not all of them.
The working pattern will ALWAYS have you starting early on your first day and finishing late on your last, so forget commuting, the flights will have left.
Efforts to change that with the rostering department will prove completely futile, they will tell you what you want to hear, and serve up the same dish, and that culture permiates the company like the logo on Brighton rock. :ugh:

If you want to commute the join as a contractor. Otherwise you will struggle.

yep, we are away alot. If LCY based we do up to 6 nights away tours. Not good really especially with young family/want to be at home for nights.

I have had 13 nights away some rosters.

Ask to see a sample roster at interview and make your decision that way, don't take their word for it!!

Very true Brownstone,
the current pilot recruitment smacks of very thinly disguised desperation,the company has acquired a very bad name amongst the flight deck community,and for good reason.Management are spending their time on "feel good" experiments,like the childish tv station Voracity,and the equally ridiculous,ticker tape, kiss me quickly,"Synchronicity"(dont ask!),like peeing down your leg,nice warm feeling,but not very useful.Oh and I forgot to mention,Christen the kitchen!,,mmm,what about bums on seats,and trying to accomodate or compromise with your staff?
Poor organisation,with a lot of fools at the top,I hear Geneva is next for the chop?.
cioa za.

jetfella,as always u hit the nail on the head!from what i hear voracity is a toy for certain members of management.like you have said there are plenty of fools at the top of the management tree who must have attended the Basil Fawlty school of management at some stage in their illustrious careers and passed with "flying" colours.

next base geneva ??? where have you heard that ???

No,not a base,tipped to be dropped from the LCY schedule,folllowing in the footsteps of Madrid,Milan,and Belfast city.Airfrance were tolerant with WX in the good times,but belts are being tightened everyhwere,and Paris is increasingly frustrated with WX,"the emperor has no clothes"!

Isn't it kind of normal to drop routes which aren't that great and use those a/c's for the moneymakers?

By the way, seemed that WX already visited AMS to investigate i.e. hotel options.. Winter roster: LCY-AMS, DUB-AMS (AerLingus' contract finishes..)?

I seriously doubt wx have the crews to cover the DUB-AMS LCY-AMS rotation.crew been called on days off to cover flights is increasing..they just dont have the numbers.in saying that DUB-AMS would be a great alternative to the Aer Lingus set up.

Thats right,this AMS scenario has been mooted for at least the last three years,also this triangular sector set-up.A very excitable management figure told me about it 15 months ago.The crews are not available,nor the aircraft.The dumping of unprofitable routes ex LCY does not free up aircraft for other routes,things are tight.The scot aircraft cant do it.
Also,I believe Aer Lingus are in negotiations to develop the route ex Dub when the KLM contract ends.Competition is fierce right now,WX are lost,drifting,incapable of action.BA wont be sitting round either,look at their new Dub route,the loads are good by all accounts,and when they start Paris -lcy.....someone is playing the fiddle while rome burns...
ciao za

If Aer Lingus can offer KLM connecting pax at the same price cityjet would charge, don't think there's much chance of cityjet getting a deal. The pax will always prefer a new A320 to a smelly old 146. Considering the A320 burns about half the fuel per pax/mile than a 146, somethings gotta give somewhere.

WX have the smelly new RJ's now.The146's are somebody else's problems now,but from what i have heard the RJ's are just as tempremental as the 146's.Great British engineering old chum!

yes,another one tech in paris today,currently 5 hours late!,wonderful machines!,its a bonus if the apu is operational,Ive travelled on a few and its usually stifling hot.On a recent european flight with the temperature at 30 deg c,the captain waited till everyone was on,sweating profusely,doors closed before saying,"Unfortuantely we have a slot 50 minutes from now,and I realise your all very hot back there,so Im going to start the apu and cool you down".I couldnt believe my ears,and nor could the hefty ticket buyers.Mind you the little bag of prezels really made up for it!

which apu? aren't there 5 of them on that thing? :}:}

hehe.well 4 of them are hair dryers!.apparently they got these cheap!,now we know why,also the autopilots usually dont work,so even if they needed it,they couldnt do cat111 for that and a variety of other tech issues.
Anyway,Ive just heard some ominuous news for WX(from a usually spot on source),watch the next 2 weeks.I sincerely hope the management fools are sacrificed this time,and not the hard working Crew.I suspect this is a turning point though,and yes its wrapped up with poor reliability,and this lemon of an aircraft,and incompetence,and everyone leaving,,,etc etc.
ciao za.

Been flying the RJ since cityjet got them and not once has the autopilot been inop. So don't know where you're getting your facts from jetfella. Me thinks you're not even a pilot. So what's the news you have? prob more hearsay/rumours that the airline industry likes to throw out all the time.

I flew those aircraft since they were new. Never had any major reliability problems with them. Flew the same ones at CityJet as well, again with no major reliability problems. With over 7000 hours on those exact aircraft I don't think the autopilot was inop more than a few days for any operations I was involved in. Go figure.

Best of luck to all of you at WX.

Well said ace.

I have never flown the RJ as I moved on long before they arrived. I do have about 5000hrs on the 146 though and even that had the AP U/S only about 1% of the time. I've since flown B757, B747 and A320. All have the same snags except the Airbus.
The reports on the RJ are very good so I do not know where this info is coming from.

Sounds like WX bashing to me. Get a life and move on folks.

Tom

PS going for a spin in the RJ sim in a couple of weeks and I'll report back.

Jetfella.. don't drag others in the misery you are in, will ya.. :D

Sorry 5Papa i think jetfella speaks alot of truth.the truth hurts sometimes.Sadly wx is not the best place to be at the moment. Im sure every airline has its up's&downs,but the truth is things are been mis-managed on a daily basis & good hard working people are getting the flak for it.