Is Anyone Flying for Grand China Express Thru WASINC or NetCompass or Another Agency?

[your_dreamguy]

I may have the opportunity to fly in China with a regional called Grand China Express. I have heard conflicting things. I have heard that you are paid well and have good accomodations in your base (which you must pay for yourself). However, I have heard that hotels on the overnights are disgusting. Your Chinese pilots that you are paired up with may be dangerous. Does anyone have a realistic view, honest evaluation?

 

[Guinness Girl]

I have also been going through the motions with WASINC regarding the Grand China Express contract. Although I do not know anyone who flies for that carrier I do have a good friend currently flying for Kungpeng which is another WASINC contract based in China. Although they are different carriers I am sure that there are many commanalities between the two operations much as there are many commanalities between airline operations in the US.

First off, the compensation for flying an RJ is very good, most of the money is tax free, and your employer pays your Chinese taxes. The cost of living for a nice western style apartment is relatively low. I have seen his place and it is quite nice. Even after you pay living expenses you are clearing quite a bit of money. His complaints are along the lines of what you have already expressed. His FO's are very low time pilots who have come through ab-initio programs. This in itself is not really the problem. If you are currently flying for a regional then you have probably flown with several FO's with similar flight time as these guys have. The real problem is the language barrier. I am under the impression that levels of English range from non-existent with translators in the jumpseat to broken English that is somewhat conversational. The next "problem" is mostly cultural. Dispite your experience and position you will constantly be needing to prove yourself because you are a foreigner and you will initially be very distrusted. The largest overall problem though is just disorganization within the operation. His carrier was an upstart and Grand China Express has been operating for several years now so hopefully they have worked out some of the kinks he is experiencing regarding just general disorganization of the operation in general.

In reality if you go over there and do not like it there are ways to legitimately terminate your contract with no real penalty. Go through those motions, buy a ticket home and call it good. Just keep in mind that if you terminate an ex-pat contract early you will have a very difficult time finding another contract position if you ever decide to give it another shot.

GG

 

[RemoveB4Flght]

Bump... they have made a facebook group for this with some good info on it: Grand China Express pilots

 

[AbOvo]

The Grand China Express contracts on WASINC are for EMB-190, DO-328, and EMB-145. Is there a separate CRJ contract listed somewhere?

 

[RemoveB4Flght]

I am not aware of any CRJ's planned for Grand China's fleet

 

[5w5flyer]

The CRJ contract was with Kunpeng Airlines. Kunpeng is returning their CRJs, and replacing them with ERJ-190s. They are therefore no longer taking on CRJ pilots.

Grand China so far does not have any expats online. The bureaucracy in China is pretty outrageous. I think that they interviewed two people in November, but they have yet to start class. I think the delay is a holdup of Chinese gov't approval, but I wouldn't be suprised if economic factors are making them rethink taking on expat pilots.

 

[Road Rash]

I have also been going through the motions with WASINC regarding the Grand China Express contract. Although I do not know anyone who flies for that carrier I do have a good friend currently flying for Kungpeng which is another WASINC contract based in China. Although they are different carriers I am sure that there are many commanalities between the two operations much as there are many commanalities between airline operations in the US.
GG

Hey Girl,
you called me a friend... ahhh...:blush: I miss my Guinness Girl!

I wanted to bump this up, the CRJ contract has been canceled and we have been left to hang in China. After Mesa repo'd the aircraft, Kunpeng stopped paying us even though there was a two month buy out in the contract. Currently I am owed over 20 grand, and don't think I will see much of it unless Wasinc wants to save a little face. I believe Guinness Girl also paid for the circle to land restriction to be taken off the FAA cert. out of her own pocket and never even got an interview. I have heard there are others out there with this same problem.

Bottem line, don't trust Wasinc!:angryfire

 

[Dornier 335]

Bump... they have made a facebook group for this with some good info on it: Grand China Express pilots

I couldn't find anything. Has someone more info? Has anyone gotten an interview date for 145s yet?

 

[5w5flyer]

I initially applied for the 145 Captain position during the Fall of last year. To date I have nothing firm. Almost 10 months and not even a hint of an interview. They claim that they were interviewing 190 Captains this month, but I have not heard if they actually did. I was lucky that my old airline gave me my initial ATP and 145 type without the circling restriction, so I didn't waste a few grand getting that removed. I've decided to try to go into the military instead of waiting around to see if this will work out. For others though, I would think long and hard about paying your own money to remove circling limitations for these people. Maybe if you can get WIA money to do it, but it still will probably be a waste. If they want expat pilots bad enough they should remove the circling limitation for you on your interview. Good luck, it sucks finding a job right now.

 

[Dornier 335]

I was lucky enough to use my PIC or P1 type on my JAR license which does not have the circling restriction. I have to agree with 5w5flyer to think hard and (more than) twice before spending your hard-earned $ to get the restriction removed. Latest rumor I heard was that the interview will take place by the end of July/beginning of August. Let's keep our fingers crossed for those that are waiting for this opportunity.

Interesting thing is that another flight crew leasing agency advertised with the exact same t&c than WASINC for immediate openings. Two leasing companies looking for pilots for the same airline, kinda weird.

Last thing that keeps me wondering is where all those 190 Captains are coming from... Surely, they can't all be Republic!

5w5flyer if I may ask, did USAirways tell you how long to expect to be on furlough?