Pilot Hiring/Contract Agencies
 

Hello all,

I'm trying to get a good understanding of these outfits.

I'm a low time airline pilot in the US who's trying to go overseas for green pastures. I see adverts on places like flight global for "XXX hiring pilots for our client ABC airlines".

I usually see names like wasinc, parc, rishworth (sp?) etc. and a lot of people here seem to do business with them, but I'm largely in the dark regarding how they operate, so I'm hoping I can have some questions answered.

1. Are these the places that hire the so called "contract" expat pilots?

2. How do they connect pilots with the jobs? Do you submit your CV, and they match you with a job, or do you indicate the jobs you're interested in, and they organize the interview?

3. Who employs the pilot, the airline or the agency?

4. If the airline hires the pilot, is the agency basically a job placement service?

5. Do you get put on the airline's regular seniority list when you have one of these contracts? Is your time to upgrade affected?

6. What are the pros and cons of using an agency?

Thanks for the help.

Hi Check Airman,

I'll try to make it short: Crew Agencies can act as intermediary or job placement. Most of the time you will have a contract stating you are not and will never be a company employee, that you are an independant contractor providing a service for a fixed, possibly renewable time period.

You can browse the web for the names you mentioned, you'll find plenty of offer for many airlines and aircraft types around the world. If one in particular attracts your attention, you apply with CV, copies of logbooks, license, medicals, etc. Then you'll be introduced to the airlines if you meet the criteria, and if nobody else with more experience takes the seat.

The crew agencies will take a monthly fee on your pay check for a contract pilot, something like 800 to 1000 USD, depending on their agreements with the airline. For placement, they may take 6K to 15K to place a pilot on a typical 2-3 year contract.

Pros: You can change shop when you please every 2-3 years if you like to visit different countries, or if a contract next door is offering more for the same amount of work! The tax system is mostly left to you, so you are responsible to deal with your declaration of earnings...(wait, is it my country of residence, or country of the airline, or the one of my contractor, or my place of birth...I'm getting confused... :} ) . The pay is usually good, some perks come in like travel and accomodation in some places.

Cons: Could be tough on the family, ID travel not always included, no seniority, little or no chance of an upgrade or type change, or you could end up in a place you love to hate for a while, but you might want to stick around till the end of your contract if you want another job with the same agency.

I've been on contracts most part of my career, not complaints, discovered many great places and people, and a few not so nice, but for me the balance is really positive so far.

One advice: if you can, get time on the left seat before trying to market yourself. Despite the lack of pilots on the market now, many companies are going full throttle in training their own cadets (new F/Os) and you'd find it hard to compete with a local pilot for any upgrade or benefits.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for all the info. If you don't have any seniority, how so you accomplish your monthly bids etc?

Monthly bids! - you’re avin a larf…..
Clearly, you have been cosseted by an organization unknown to many contractors, viz; a professional airline. From the moment the agency has you hooked, your aspirations will be crushed and a new, licentious world will be revealed. In order to have any quality time off to return home and visit family, many contractors have no choice but to make "deals" with those who control the roster. Do not rely on the agency for support, they will be working on their next contract and fee. This is the world of contract flying - I strongly suggest you reconsider, avoid any agency and establish a career path with your present employer.

As a low time FO you may have noticed there isn't much choice of jobs, and as a minimum you will need 1000TT, and 500 on type, and the types that seem most in demand are the A320 or the 737 NG. There are not many contracts for FOs period, and in career terms it is a dead end. You can forget upgrades and promotions, and don't expect too much in terms of leave or getting a roster that allows you to travel home for a few days each month. As an FO find a full time permanent contract with an airline, get a few thousand hours, and get into the left seat, get a few thousand hours there too, and then if want to have a crack at contracting give it a go: there is a lot more, and better choice for Captains to work as contractors.

Good luck!

Tommy,

Do I take it that you're not a fan of agencies?:} I'm not particularly looking for an agency job, but I realize that it is an avenue worth considering. There is no "career path" with my present employer. For those of us in the US, the (growing) regional industry is a financial dead end.

Firestorm,

From what you have written, I may have sold myself short. I have ~2000TT, but still under 500hr in my current type (which unfortunately is neither an Airbus nor a Boeing). I consider that to be low time.

I've seen some companies advertising "commuting" contracts, so surely there must be ways of getting back to your home. How do these work?

Why is it laughable that I would want to bid my next month's schedule? Is it that the bidding system within most of the airlines are bad, or that expats will generally only get to bid the worst lines, after the local pilots have had a chance to bid?

I recognize the value of having PIC time, but waiting for it at my present airline is probably my last option because of the pay.

c.a.-- I can only speak of my current position, AJX, but we do not have a traditional bidding system like you are used to in the States. We put in our request for our days off and then they put trips on our schedule. We have no input as to what trips they give us. All we do is ask for days off. There are no "bid packets" published like you are probably used to. Not sure how other airlines over here work but I would imagine they are very similar.

As for commuting contracts, we are on one at AJX. We are provided C-Class tickets or $2000 to purchase our own tickets. We usually get finished with our last trip in time to go home that day. Then we are back in town in time for our first trip.

Upgrades, it is possible at AJX. They tell us around the 3-4 year mark you will start the upgrade process. As others have said, some good people do not pass the upgrade. Now whether they deserved to fail or not is totally up to them and the check airmen. They might be great guys out of the cockpit but when put in command they may be totally dullards. Who knows.

Anyway, check around at the different contracts and read all the posts you can. I came from a US fractional and regional prior to that. I think it is way better over here than at the regional world in the US. I wish I would have done it sooner.

All agencies are bad. Some are less bad than others.
Agencies have no interest in you or your career whatsoever. They are a business and you, are a means to their fees, nothing more. Unfortunately, agencies are a necessary evil in the modern aviation world where market demands can change rapidly. Agency fees, the chunk they take from your salary, can vary by agency. The Irish mob probably take the most from pilots salaries and will even convince you to thank them for doing it! I have never known an agency F/O to be upgraded, that's not to say it does not happen.
Do a search on this website for specific information on each agency. You will find examples of agencies; unilaterally changing the terms and conditions of a mutually agreed contract, stranding crew abroad, operating under different names from the same location, making absurd salary/package guarantees, convincing pilots to spend money to travel to interviews, false claims of a commuting contract, owing salary to crew, etc. etc.
The AJX contract referenced above, is the exception, however, this is certainly not based on any agency effort, rather, the insistence and monitoring by AJX that the agencies fully comply with their terms and conditions. Carefully consider leaving your airline job to embark on a career adventure which can easily turn into a career nightmare. All the best.

Granted I am with AJX, but my experience with PARC has been a positive one, for what I read of other contractors at other airlines placed through PARC, they also seem pretty happy overall wit their service. I have to say that their service during the days of the tsunami here in Japan was excellent, not trying to pump PARC sunshine, just telling my experience with them.

Appreciate all the useful info guys.

What's the connection between Air Japan and ANA? I understand that there are multiple companies doing business under similar names. Is there just one big seniority list with pilots moving from one carrier to another for long haul vs short haul?

Check Airman I think that one of the first hurdles you need to overcome is your way of thinking.

There is NO SENIORITY in a contract job. There is no bidding. You are hired help that gets assigned the tasks or trips that locals don't want.

Some of the Japanese carriers are unique in that they will upgrade F/O's, but that is VERY rare. Consider also that when JAL hit a rough patch 3 years ago, ALL their contract pilots were given 30 days notice; you are expendable. There is also no such thing as a recall, just "sayonara" gaijin.

In the current economic climate you need to consider the risks of leaving your current employer, no matter how dull or dead-end the job may seem.

Another risk not previously mentioned is that you will probably be operating well outside the protection of the US (or any other reputable country) legal system. An agency may indeed be based in country A, but their "related entity" which actually sends you the contract may be based (nominally) in a country that you have never heard of, and which just happens to have a very "flexible" legal system. Many pilots have been caught out this way; get screwed over by the agency, and have no recourse through the courts.

Contracting can provide an interesting and varied career, but times are changing, and there are just too many bottom-dwellers out there.

Carefully consider all your options.