@ImperialXrat

I just followed up with the lady at Parc and she told me that the pre-screening date is still set up for the middle of December but that the details havent been worked out yet.

So I'm just putting two and two together.....I know two people who applied through CreW and two through Parc. Both who went to CreW didnt make it past the pre-screening. And those that went to Parc did and were able to interview.

So apparently Parc needs a decent applicant pool for the pre-screening to justify having two Capt. come over to Vancouver. At least that's what Parc is telling me.

Thanks for the response... it's too bad Parc doesn't think I'm qualified. I did notice a new recruitment company advertising all over called Longreach USA, but haven't heard anything about them.

I would say, pay for your private pilot's license, but no more at first. A company called Regional Airline Academy went out of business and took all the students' money. DO NOT pay all up front for ANY reason. If they demand that, then walk away. Personally, I think All ATPs will give you the most airline like training, with lots of multi -time, however, it may not be the best for someone who speaks English as a second language, because all the ground work is all self-study. However, I encourage you to talk to them. They have multiple training locations and later in your training you will actually fly between them, so you get good varied experience in cross-country, and weather/terrain types.

767 fo
 

Hi guys and gals, I just got invited for a screening in Dec and I would like to ask about the tech questions and ATP tests. Are the questions in metric or ft like the USA? Say runway lights length. As for the sim ride, do they use a particular airport or whatever they want that day? Thanks in advance.

I was hoping that someone with more recent experience would answer your question but it has gone ignored so I'll give you what I remember, it's been many moons mind you....!

The test is right out of the Gleim ATP book as I recall....., I think it was in feet but can't really recall....., but I do remember that the answers were multiple choice so a little mental math should get you close enough to the right answer in meters I would say...!

The airport where the evaluation took place is the same they use for the entire training process, Shimojishima (RORS) a quick google search should give you the info you need...!

Good luck

I sent you a pm and can send you interview prep material. But it's pretty straight forward and between Crew material and a buddy there I felt pretty prepared.

You start in a "holding room" where they collect the paperwork they want and you take an ATP test with only I think 20-25 questions. If you study ATP prep questions you'll be well prepared. They are really into airport lighting so study that really good (best book to check out for your study is "Everything Explained for the Professional Pilot").

You then both go to the interview room where the 5 panelists are and an HR person explains the process. A captain then gives you a 45 minute sim brief where they go thoroughly over what you are to do for the sim check. After that you go back to the holding room and start taking your psychological profile test. It is very long, a couple hundred questions, and will fill in most of your time waiting while other guy is in the interview.

The interview was a panel of 2 HR and 3 captains (about 45 minutes). One obstacle was the language barrier and I sometimes had to ask them to repeat the question. Nothing really unexpected from the prep. HR asks things like "why Air Japan?" and "how will you and your family cope with the long training period?" The captains ask more tech questions like runway lights, requirements for CAT 2/3, and if you're a 767 guy, "you push the thrust levers up for takeoff and get a warning horn, what causes that to sound?"

For the sim, the first take-off and visual approach is a warm-up and a chance to get a feel for the sim and get some feedback (try REALLY hard to do their procedures and call-outs, and ask for advice after that practice, I think they liked that). Then you go up and do the visual again, followed by another normal take-off to a VOR approach (dive and drive with V/S), then a take-off with V1 cut to an ILS (WX about 300/1). All final segments to be hand flown.

You will get an email either very late that night or early next morning letting you know if you made it through the first phase. If you did, you get instructions on when/where to meet for the medical the next day (one day off after screening).

The medical is much more thorough than FAA class one. Chest xray, EKG, hearing/vision tests, blood work etc. Their were two unusual tests though.

The first was having electrodes placed all over your head and then lay down in a dark room. They give you instructions like breath in and out deeply for two minutes, hold your breath now, then quiet for a long time. The instructions said it was ok to sleep, but I heard you really shouldn't. Then, with your eyes closed they flash a lot of strobe patterns from a strobe light less than a foot from your face. All the while they are getting graph readouts that goes to a specialists where I think they are trying to determine if you are susceptible to seizures.

The second was balance a balance test. They had me first stand with my feet together with my eyes closed looking for excessive wobble. They then had me try to walk a straight line with my eyes closed. I had read in the Japanese flight medical manual that they could ask you to balance on one foot with your eyes both open and closed and you should be able to do this with your eyes closed for I think 20-25 seconds. I practiced this for a couple of months at home which helped me improve.

At the end of all this was a meet with the doc and a blood pressure check. I normally don't have any problems with blood pressure, but the combination of lack of sleep and adrenaline from everything caused him to take it three times before I could get it settled down. But everything came out fine, though I didn't get the job offer for about a month after the interview.

It is a very long process. I applied last April, interview Jun 2, and class in Nov.

Thank you
 

Thank you mpflyboy and the domincan! I appreciate the info.

Is the plan still to double the fleet size as it was in 2013?
What are current upgrades sitting at?

Over at NCA we are reducing the fleet to eight airframes, changing our capt/FO ratio from 60/40 to 50/50 and are looking at a 10-15 year upgrade in a no growth scenario (which is likely). I believe we are also hiring 30 in December to Feb, but it may be largely Japanese. Still not clear.

The two parts of this statement don't add up.....! Stagnation, reduction of fleet but adding people?

Will see if all the rumors come to fruition, but I have the impression that both these gigs will look very different a couple of years from now. The interesting question is better or worse?

But the formal answer to your question is that no one knows where this ship is headed.

Upgrades are currently at about the 4 5/6 year mark. :rolleyes: I've been here 4 1/2 and just completed the evaluation period.