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Air Astana Recruitment
*Please note we are currently recruiting for Fokker 50 Captains and First Officers only for a start date in May with screening taking place in March and April 2010. Qualified candidates should send in their details to Susan Cousins at scousins@directpersonnel.com*
Direct Personnel are proud to be the largest provider of Contract crews to our client airline Air Astana, a progressive and modern Airline based in a country with one of the fastest growing economies in the world and boasting a landscape of outstanding natural beauty. We have been working with Air Astana for nearly 4 years, assisting them with their flight deck requirements and helping them realise their ambitious plans for growth.
Read on to find out more about the exciting positions we have for type rated, qualified crew on the F50 .
Air Astana Airline Profile
Air Astana is the national carrier of Kazakhstan and operates scheduled domestic and international services. Its main bases are Astana International Airport and Almaty International Airport.
History
The airline was established on 14 September 2001 and started operations on 15 May 2002. Air Astana leased its first three Boeing 737 aircraft in May 2002. Three Boeing 757s were added and in 2004 five Fokker 50s were acquired, the latter to largely develop the domestic network. It became the national carrier after the government closed Air Kazakhstan in February 2004 and transferred all route authorities to Air Astana. It is a joint venture owned by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan (51%) and BAE Systems (49%). It has 1,761 employees (at March 2007)
Domestic Destinations
- Aktau
- Aktyubinsk
- Almaty
- Astana
- Atyrau
- Karaganda
- Kostanai
- Kzyl-Orda
- Oral
- Öskemen
- Pavlodar
- Petropavl
- Semey
- Shimkent
- Taraz
International Destinations
- Amsterdam
- Antalya
- Bangkok
- Beijing
- Delhi
- Dubai
- Frankfurt
- Hanover
- Istanbul
- London Heathrow
- Milan [Starts 7 September 2007]
- Moscow
- Seoul
Fleet
- 5 Airbus A320-200
- 1 Airbus A321-100
- 1 Airbus A321-200
- 4 Boeing 757-200
- 2 Boeing 767-300
- 5 Fokker 50
About Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of northern and central Eurasia. Its territory of 2,717,300 km² (bigger than Western Europe), the ninth largest in the world, is partially located to the west of the Ural River in eastern-most Europe.
Prior to full independence, Kazakhstan existed as the Kazakh SSR in the Soviet Union. It is now a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, bordering Russia, the People's Republic of China, and the Central Asian countries Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, with a coastline on the Caspian Sea.
Kazakhstan is the ninth-largest country in the world by area, but it is only the 62nd country in population with fewer than 6 people per square kilometre (15 per sq. mi.). The population in 2006 is estimated at 15,300,000. Much of the country's land consists of semi-desert (steppe) terrain.
Political system
Kazakhstan is a constitutional republic. The president is the head of state. The president also is the commander in chief of the armed forces and may veto legislation that has been passed by the Parliament. President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has been in office since Kazakhstan became independent, won a new 7-year term in a 1999 election. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Ministers and serves as Kazakhstan's head of government. There are three deputy prime ministers and 16 ministers in the Cabinet.
Economy Overview
The government of Kazakhstan plans to double its Gross domestic product (GDP) by 2008 and triple by 2015 compared to 2000. The GDP growth was stable in the last five years, and was higher than 9%. GDP growth in 2005 was 9.2%, and 9.4% in 2004. Kazakhstan's economy grew by 9.2% in 2003, buoyed by high world crude oil prices. GDP grew 9.5% in 2002; it grew 13.2% in 2001, up from 9.8% in 2000.
External opinion generally considers Kazakhstan's monetary policy to be well-managed. In 2000 Kazakhstan became the first former Soviet republic to repay all of its debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), 7 years ahead of schedule. In March 2002, the U.S. Department of Commerce graduated Kazakhstan to market economy status under U.S. trade law. The change in status recognized substantive market economy reforms in the areas of currency convertibility, wage rate determination, openness to foreign investment, and government control over the means of production and allocation of resources.
In September 2002 Kazakhstan became the first country in the CIS to receive an investment-grade credit rating from a major international credit rating agency.
Almaty
Almaty is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of 2,000,900 (2006) (13% of the population of Kazakhstan) citizens. Almaty is 40 - 50% ethnically Russian. Until the mid-1980s, Kazaks represented only 12 per cent of Almaty's population. A figure which had increased nearly twofold by the end of the decade. According to unofficial statistics, Kazaks now account for over half of Almaty's two million residents.
In late 1991, Almaty became the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a designation it kept until 1998, when the capital was moved to Astana. Almaty, however, remains the largest city in Kazakhstan and the country's major commercial center. In 2005, the city launched a failed bid to host the XXII Olympic Winter Games in the year 2014, but was successful in its bid to host the 2011 Winter Asian Games.
Astana
Astana, estimated population of 577,300 (2007), is the third largest city and the capital of Kazakhstan since December 10, 1997. The name "Astana", which in Kazakh language means "Capital city", was allegedly chosen because it is easily pronounced in many languages. It is within Aqmola Province, though politically separate from the rest of the province, which has its own capital.
The current mayor of Astana is Askar Mamin, formerly Minister for Transportation. He was appointed mayor on 25 September 2006. In 1999, Astana had a population of 281,000. The ethnic mix was about 30% Kazakh and 70% Russian, Ukrainian, and German.In 1994, the city was designated as the future capital of the newly-independent country, and again renamed to the present "Astana" after the capital was officially moved from Almaty in 1997. Despite the isolated location of the new capital in the centre of the Kazakh Steppe and the forbidding climate in winter, Kazakhstan simply needed a more central location than its former location of Almaty, which lies on the far southeastern border with Kyrgyzstan.
Candidate Requirements
*Please note we are recruiting for Fokker 50 Captains and First Officers for a start date in May with screening taking place in March and April 2010. Qualified candidates should send in their details to Susan Cousins at scousins@directpersonnel.com *
Candidates interested in submitting an application for Air Astana should meet the following requirements:
F50 Captains must have :
- A minimum of 3500 hours total flying time
- A minimum of 1500 hours pilot in command (P1) on commercial aircraft
- A minimum of 500 PIC hours on type
F50 First Officers must have :
- A minimum of 1500 hours total flying time
- A minimum of 500 hours on type
Further :
- Captains must hold a current and valid JAA/FAA or ICAO ATPL
- First Officers must hold a current and valid JAA/ FAA or ICAO CPL/ATPL
- A current F50 type rating (must have flown the aircraft within the previous 3 years)
- Current medical issued by a JAA/FAA or ICAO member state.
- No history of accidents or incidents
- Excellent standard of English required
How to apply ?
*Please note we are recruiting for Fokker 50 Captains and First Officers for a start date in May with screening taking place in March and April 2010. Qualified candidates should send in their details to Susan Cousins at scousins@directpersonnel.com *
Should you wish to apply, please click on the relevant link below:
Or contact Susan Cousins for more information:
Email: scousins@directpersonnel.com
Phone: +353 1 8138400
Fax: +353 1 8138401
A contractors viewpoint....
To get a flavour of what life is like as a contract pilot with Air Astana, see below an interview the magazine 'Airline Pilot Careers' did with Direct Personnel contract pilot Captain Tom Nicholls in November 2006....
A Pilots Perspective:
TOM NICHOLLS CAPTAIN, AIR ASTANA
(*please note that as of June 2008, Tom has been promoted to VP of Flight Operations. Well done Tom, we knew we had a great guy when we put you into Air Astana!)
When Captain Tom Nichols was hired by Delta Air Lines in the 1980s, the family-oriented company boasted a "cradle to the grave" philosophy. Orientation week at "the Big D" included overtures from pilot and company managers welcoming the newest crop of pilots "to the last job you'll ever need."
Twenty years later, at age 51, Nichols finds himself flying as pilot-in-command in the B737NG, providing instruction to new and transitioning pilots, just as he thought he might at this stage in his career. His pay is good, his schedule friendly, and he works with professionals.
What he never expected was his monthly paycheck to be issued by Direct Personnel International (DPI) rather than by Delta. When cleared for approach and landing at his home base, he expected to hear a familiar southern drawl; instead, he often responds to a thick Kazakh or Russian accent. If he has difficulty with understanding the controller, not to worry—his first officer understands every word and, in a pinch, could freely communicate in the native tongue.
Nichols is based some 7,000 miles from American soil, in Almaty, Kazakhstan. His DPI contract has him flying for Air Astana, named after Kazakhstan's capital city to the north. The company currently flies to at least 29 cities domestically and internationally in a modern fleet consisting of 14 aircraft. Hired to fly as a line training pilot, Nichols now maintains an informal position as liaison between DPI and Air Astana, and contributes in various other administrative ways.
It doesn't take long for Nichols to demonstrate his affable nature, which has allowed him to adapt to his new lifestyle. In discussing the weather, he describes Almaty as a pretty temperate continental climate. Further investigation revealed that Nichols' definition of "temperate" includes swings from minus-30 to 100-plus degree temperatures, a span that more than triples this reporter's comfort zone.
The prospect of retiring from Delta nearly a decade early came swiftly and ectedly. Though an undeniably sound decision given the risk his retirement pension would face as the company descended into bankruptcy, the prospect of becoming unemployed at this stage of his career did induce some anxiety. After joining AIR, Inc. and attending a seminar, Nichols realized that his job search would be much different approaching age 50 than age 30. The seniority system that serves pilot careers well in the United States does not recognize the experience of a senior airline captain. "I noticed at the seminar that 95 percent had dark hair, and only 5 percent had white hair. So, I had to figure out what to do next. I started filling out applications on all of the crew leasing company websites."
After turning down one contract opportunity, Nichols accepted the Air Astana position. "It seemed like the right adventure for me. My wife was born in Russia, and I came to the region in 2000 as part of a codeshare review for Delta. Apparently, I was one of two pilots whose personnel records indicated they spoke Russian, so they called me to make the trip. 1 was a little apprehensive, as my language skills had only been tested to order beer and food at that point."
Consistent with his predisposition, Nichols acclimated quickly to the job and to the lifestyle. Even though the aircraft he was hired to fly never materialized, the company shifted his position from the B757 to B737NG. Then, he observed that a need existed to coordinate issues between other contract pilots and the airline, so Nichols volunteered his time to assist. He since learned from colleagues that his relation-ship with DPI and Air Astana is quite favorable. "Other, more seasoned, contract pilots have told me stories about situations where contracts have not gone so smoothly. Apparently, there is a great deal of variability among countries and contractors." Issues in these cases involve timely pay and contract compliance.
With two decades of major airline experience to compare to, Nichols details some differences between seniority-list flying in the U.S. versus contract flying overseas: "First, you do not have a union. You do individual contracts through the agency. At first, I was a little bit afraid of that. 1 thought, 'Do you just have to take it or leave it?' In my case, I really wanted to work, so I read through the contract. It looked pretty good, so I signed it. I later found out from others that you can tweak individual contracts on occasion." No matter how comprehensive a contract is, the relationships the contract pilot creates with the client airline and the contract company are important. Nichols pointed out a situation where a very new contract pilot at Air Astana came down with a significant health issue that kept him out of the cockpit and entirely unproductive for a significant amount of time. While there was nothing in the contract compelling the company to provide any dispensation, they kept him on the payroll and in a company-sponsored hotel while he recovered.
Another interesting difference is that pilots generally go with the seat position. Nichols says that he would be a captain wherever he goes. Of course, there are many niceties associated with seniority lists that many may miss. Airlines assign your flying outside of the bidding process that may be in place for its seniority list pilots.
