Air Baltic
 

Hi everyone,

I've been called for a selection next week, who did it before, can you please tell me more or less how is the selection process? Which needs to be prepared better, etc.
I am not rated on the 737.

Thanks!!

Hello

Im sorry but I dont have any information for you. But I am interested, what is your experience/hours? Just trying to see what they are looking for :)

Air Baltic jobs, payscales and entry requirements.

Cheers :cool:

Basic ATPL met and tech, 30q's I think. psych interview. psychometric test.
Basic desk flightsim and interview with a capt and an HR interview.
Think thats about it....

Air Baltic
 

Hello,
I have been called to attend the Air Baltic selection next month and I would appreciate any advice or info about it.

Thanks a lot!!

Whats your experience, Alex, if you don't mind sharing?

military C-130 hours

Can anyone shed light on what type of questions are on the day, any gotchas etc?

If you are not rated on the 737 then you won't be offered it, but will be offered the dash 8. I think for fo's there are three tech papers, a sim, and psychometric testing. All over about two days. Quite involved so study up on it. Please don't pm me on it.

I don't know... looking at the payscale for captains sure looks low. I know cabin crew that earn more money.

whats the pay/conditions for DASH 8 DEC's?

The take home for the 737 captains is about 5-5.5k euros.
The turboprop captains (F50 and Q400) are on the same pay scale as the jets. The catch is in the flight pay. Overtime is paid after 65 hours, but on the props you won't make any as there are lots of nightstops with not much flying, and long breaks in the day, so expect to make quite a bit less than the 737 crews.
Unfortunately this is the present reality, our jobs have all been exported from Scandinavia/UK to a low tax/low regulated environment thanks to the open EU, albeit that the passengers are not from the Baltic but are transits through Riga from the affluent EU states.

Does anybody know if they would accept ICAO license (FAA CPL/ME/IR in this case) ?

I have hours on the Dash-8, and am in the process of taking the JAA ATPL theory.

18th October Selection and Interview
 

I had an e from Air Baltic with an interview date of 18th of October. Has anyone else had the same? Does anyone know what the score is for the interview day? And odes anyone know what sort of contract they are offering?

Hi, anyone who is inside already, please can you answer the following:

What routes does the Q400 fly?
Are there many night stops?
For the above take home pay, is that paid in Euros? what is the Tax?
Is there a Q400 simulator coming for the Riga training centre?

Cheers

18th of October
 

Firestorm,

I will also attend the assessment on the 18th.

But I get a little worried when I read the news in here.
Seems A.B are to lay off their contractors and wants the A.B hired pilots to approve 75%.

Do you have more info?


/FO 737

They have told me nothing FO 737. I will be staying at the Islande Hotel, so see you there on Sunday or at the assessment centre on Monday.

Both of you going for B737 interview?

I struggle to see why they would this week interview anyone for a 737 (or indeed any other fleet) job when they have just advised that all contract pilots to finish end of Oct (AFAIK +/- 15 737 Capt 7 F50 Capt) & have tomorrow the second planned meeting to discuss with local pilots whether they want 75%time with reduced salary, OR just reduced salary :hmm: I believe they have furloughed the last trained Q400 guys (unpaid I guess) for 4mths , and seem generally to be propogating gloom & doom for the Winter season.

Perhaps you should ask some pertinent questions at the selection & let us know what the "official" plan is, because we sure can't figure it out.

Capt Playstation: perhaps we are coming to help boost the passenger figures? I have no idea what their plan is, but I had heard that the contracts were about to expire. But as Air baltic are paying for the flights, and I only have to pay for the hotel, and I've never been Latvia before, I'm in! They have given me no information about the Ts and Cs or the salary so we'll see. If I find anything out I'll let you know.

Avyator: yes, FO 737.

An official memo was released a few days ago detailing the much reduced hours planned for all fleets across the Winter. In fact the temporary contracts were open ended, originally foreseen to end around now, and very recently advised as being likely to continue till mid Jan, until the retraction of Oct1st.
The current "plans" (if you can call them that) appear to be as much related to politics as business.
Enjoy the freebie to RIX & the "lovely sights" on offer ;) shame the weather is going through a dire spell, might get better in the next couple of days with some luck.

Wouldn't plan on doing much 737 flying till April though, the present incumbents have already been asked to do less & accept less € so the logic of further immediate recruitment would be way over my head :ooh:

I think that airline management strategy and the finer points of sub atomic particle physics will remain forever a mystery to me too Captplaystation!

Ain't that the truth. :D

Good luck on Monday anyhow :ok:

Let us know the "party political" line. :oh:

I don't think those who conduct the interviews even know. They never answered me when I asked them about this. They looked at each other remaining quiet. It was actually comic. :rolleyes:
I'm excited to hear what these guys will get out of them.

CPH 22L - SID - Maneuvers (steep turns) - VOR - Windshear (GA) - ILS (engine fire). Maybe something different for you this time. Good luck!

Thanks Avyator and Captplaystation.

Maybe they are recruiting for summer 2011?
I will also come back with any info I can find out.

Firestorm: I will come om monday morning, see you there!

yes, BT will recruit in 2011. That's the plan anyway. And people will continue to leave due to the following:

BT is unable to pay all salaries this winter, cuts of 25% on paper, effectively 35% for most pilots.

The company offers:

Option 1: 75% of the basic salary and a reduction of guaranteed pay down from 60 hours to 45 hours.

Option 2: 7 days additionally off per month in a block, a 75% salary with a bigger reduction of those 45 hours pay.

This is purely voluntarily according to the company and only for 4 months (though the addendum that is to be signed does not mention a time limit, it is indefinite)

However if not sufficient volunteers can be found, people will be fired strictly according to seniority (which would be mostly newly Dash rated pilots).

makes sense? probably not.

BT trouble
 

BT cant pay salary? why recruit so much this year and take on contractors?
Anyone who know the company comments on what happens now or what was said at the second meeting?

Something a little "deeper/fishier/more political " than can be divulged at a simple aircraft drivers meeting I think.

Contractors ? well who the hell else can you get, qualified and current to drive these things, at the prices airB pay on a permanent contract, & at short notice? so not much choice for them there. Recruitment ? well they were doing some of that just today, but how many of them won't have found pastures greener by next Spring, before they are given the "call" ? And, what about the newly recruited CabinCrew & Q400 drivers , no doubt rejoicing in their 4 mths of unpaid leave ? ? :hmm:

Q400's Phaw! ! Bollox I say, crew trained, no airframe to fly, who is paying for the bleeders, (I mean the airframes) always tech, call out the "Boeing reserve crew", well Yeah, but you just laid them off, and dumped the relevant airframes in IST, Jeez, p1ssup/brewery ? well I hope not, I actually rather liked it here, and I would like to see it continue, but with a little less "Flickness" or do I blame the wrong side of the "partnership" ?
Potential to be a really good place to work, but for the moment seems to lack some "direction" IMHO. Bloody cold though, it snowed Fri & Sat night :ooh:

Assessment
 

Hi,

today I got an email saying I was successful on the assessment last week.
They also wrote they will archive my profil and submit in a standby-pool, in order to contact me then a new vacancy will arise.

I ask the very nice HR-lady about this winter and next summer, and she said that BT are doing these assessments for the summerseason in a calm way.
This summer it was very hectic for them with a lot of assessments.

New courses in jan-feb.


/FO 737

Hi FO737,

did you apply for the 737. I have got an offer letter for the Dash as DEC but have received no informations since weeks. No answers to mails. Did you talk to Daiga?

Jabulani

I think you don't have an answer because they don't know what to tell you . . . . . . really! The Q400's are late, there are rumours about the Govt (recently politically realigned) not honouring their promises re finance for the new airframes ? ? certainly they have not arrived. Q400 colleagues are doing virtually no flying, even if Base Training of newbees was taking place only 1 week ago.

In short, there is some plan in the background (or perhaps the problem is No plan? or a plan that has been foiled ? ) and the HR Dept / Flt ops etc are as baffled as anyone else.
Something is brewing, and no-one knows if they will like how it tastes. I seriously wouldn't plan on an employment offer before May, but that could of course change as quickly as the wind.

Well done FO737, and Jabulani! I haven't heard anything yet.

I would suggest no one knows whats going on at Baltic. Pilots this week told not enough accept pay cut and as result some pilot redundant over 4 month winter. Q400 pilots told no paycut, and new aircraft be here soon. so pilots on different pay, not going to work well.
Hold pool will mean nothing at Air Baltic. Just like all other airlines they look after only company. just something to tell you.
Company trouble with staff, with aircraft, airport problems with no bill paid and a slow winter forcast.

Bad winter ahead for Air Baltic.very bad.:=

Captplaystation - do you know more details on what' s going on there now??? I'm curious caus have been asked for assesment but really don' t feel like " getting into trouble" by loosing job any time soon....

I think any offer they would make you would be for the Springtime, so no need yet to resign from somewhere else.

Come springtime , if they make an offer you like and you are not happy where you are (or unemployed) come along. You will love it, at least till Winter comes again, and perhaps with it a pay-cut/unpaid leave ?

Nothing decided yet vis-a -vis 75% vs compulsory unpaid leave, and I will be gone before it is finalised, so you will have to ask someone else later.

Seriously, conspiracy theories apart, no-one seems able to explain/understand the sudden retrenchment, and most people have been here longer than me. So, if they don't understand what chance me?

Hi all
 

Sorry for not answering for a while.

I haven't heard anything after the email saying I went to the holding pool.
Yes, the HR lady told me there are plans for new ground courses in jan-feb for 737.
But that can change quickly as we all know, so hold on to what you have for now.

Firestorm, have you heard anything?


Take care guys!

Still nothing.

I think that they have got more urgent things to attend to before they worry too much about next seasons pilots!

That is how I would see it too.
One of the rumours doing the rounds is that most of Herr Flick/airBaltics recent success was due a close working relationship with a very airBaltic sympathetic & powerful Latvian politician (who wasn't re-elected) and Russian money (with a reputedly fairly anti-Russian Govt recently arriving in power)

Perhaps exaggerated/not 100% accurate, but it would certainly explain the negative direction adopted so soon after the recent elections despite previous very optimistic forecasts for Winter season.
Having said that, if you read through the whole of the 33 page thread in "Nordic Forums" you can see that this On Off On Off scenario is nothing new here, so perhaps we all read too much into what for them (& indeed much of aviation) passes for normal.
Chaos is standard, anything else is a bonus :ok:

Going back for stage 2 of the interview. Happy with that. I suppose I'll have to wait and see if there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow though. But it's nice to think that someone thinks that I am worth it!