China Airlines

[spongebob]

Does anyone have any info on the China Airlines process? I am sending my resume as per the instructions but what now? Where are their bases and what are their working rules and pay?\

Any info appreciated!

SB

 

[blade230]

China Airlines has now frozen all recruitment, and is defering aircraft deliveries. Flightcrew leaves of abscense without pay are being considered.

Sorry.

Hopefully the situation will change sooner than later, but Asia is at the beginning of a possible recesion. Cathay, Singapore, China Air, are all hurting.

 

[GCD]

Don't waste your time. There's a reason their call sign sounds like die-nasty.


One day a few years ago, several other airplanes and I were negotiating a typhoon by diverting several miles away (sotheast) from Hong Kong. We heard Dynasty ask for direct HK. When I got to the hotel room in Bangkok, I heard the news that the same airplane ended up upside-down on the runway trying to land as the typhoon was hitting HK. That's why all of us who fly the China coast call them die-nasty.

 

[turning2]

Little off topic,

I have an interesting PDF file of a Chinese carrier's (not sure which one) engine. Its definitely an eye opener. I have been wanting to post it but I'm not sure how... anyone have any ideas as to how I can share it? Does it have to be hosted somewhere? Anyone interested?

2

 

[Tref]

That was actually Mandarin Airlines that flipped during the typhoon at HKG's Chek Lap Kok airport a few years ago.

 

[GCD]

I thought it was Dynasty. Maybe I was confused with all of the other die-nasty wrecks. You know, like the B747 mid-air breakup, the B747 roll over the Pacific...shall I go on?

I just remeber that the three of looked at each other and simultaneously said, "Did he say direct HK?"

 

[Tref]

Yeah, some of the Asian carriers have a, shall we say, less than sterling safety record.

I remember hearing about a Boeing Rep who was coming back from Mainland China. I think it was my cousin who told me about it (he's a Federal Aircraft Inspector.) Anyway the Boeing guy had a list of aircraft numbers that he was supposed to inspect, but when he came to some a/c on the list the Chinese just said, "Oh no, don't have any more." He said, "What do you mean you don't have them? Did you sell them?" Their answer was basically that they didn't exist anymore. They had actually crashed and never been reported. Some way of having a good safety record, huh! Just don't keep records.

GCD, didn't mean to disagree about China Airlines, I was just pointing out that it was Mandarin that flipped in HKG. I got sick of taxiing by the d@mn thing. It took them something like two months to get rid of the inverted fuselage beside the runway. Didn't really help the nervous flyers.

 

[GCD]

Oh no, Tref. I know that you weren't arguing. I was inaccurate and you called me on it. It was the right thing to do. I confused the two in my mind and incorrectly posted. You were right to do it. We should all be professional and keep each other honest and accurate.

There are just so many wrecks out there in China, I can't keep them straight.

I do still stand by my co-workers calling China Air as Die-Nasty.

 

[typhoonpilot]

Boy, the stories I could tell after flying in Taiwan for three years. I should write a book someday.

Just to be fair though, the Mandarin flight that crashed in Hong Kong had an Italian Captain. As I recall he was ushered out of the country by the Italian embassy to avoid getting thrown in jail.

To reply to the original question, do a search on PPrune ( www.pprune.org ) under the Far East section. There should be some good information on there. The guy whose name is " Ilovelonghaul " looks through rose colored glasses though.

I enjoyed my time in Taiwan tremendously. The people are very friendly and living in Taipei can be quite fun. Taiwan is a beautiful island when you get out of the big cities, especially if you can make it over to the east coast or into the central mountains.

Working for China Airlines would be best as a Captain ( PIC ). There exists a much steeper cockpit gradient in Asia than the United States. If you went as a cruiser then I think they were talking about 8 to 12 years to upgrade. I might be confusing that with EVA though.

The contract you sign will be the best it will ever get on the day you sign it. From then on it only gets worse so make sure it is a good contract and one you can still live with if it gets reduced by 10 % per year.

As the others have indicated though, SARS has severely impacted China Airlines, Cathay, EVA, Dragonair, Singapore, and others so hiring won't be happening anytime soon.

I'll put a plug in for Emirates though. We are hiring for the foreseeable future and still expect to more than double in size in the next 7 years. It would be a much better opportunity than China Airlines. Just ask my classmate who quit there to come to work here.

Typhoonpilot

 

[GCD]

I highly recommend the IASCO contract with JAL/JALways.

There is a thread on here about the JALways contract. Good job, good people to work with, and a good contractor to work for.