EK Simulator-No More Chocolate or Decent Food at CAE

[Sheikh Your Bootie]

From Abbas

Colleagues-

As part of the continuing cost containment review within Flight Operations, the decision has been made to withdraw the availability of lounge facilities, currently on offer to EK pilots when they conduct simulator duties, in the CAE building. Lounge facilities are not offered to flight or cabin crew in our other training facilities, so this move serves to standardise the facilities offered during all training duties. The move is also consistent with our drive to further reduce costs across the airline during these challenging economic times.

CAE management has been informed of our decision to withdraw support for the lounge facility so, with immediate effect; pilots are not to use the lounge facilities when conducting simulator duties in the CAE building.

Thank you for your assistance and understanding in this matter.

Prepare the lube, there is way more to come habibis.

SyB

[Chewthecrude]

This is part of the BMI issue and not really a cost cutting issue!:ok:

Thank you EK for thinking about me!

[Devils Advocate]

Things must be really tough if the difference between profit & loss depends upon how many KitKats / Mars Bar's / sarnies / etc, some pilots might munch into during their twice per year sim session. What kind of sublimnal message can one read in to this about the company's finances?! Prudent cost cutting or desperate penny pinching?! Penny wise, or pound foolish?!

[411A]

Pilots 'lounge' facilities at simulator training?
Never have I noticed such a set-up.
Vending machines, yes...lounge, no.
Occasionally, a cafeteria was available if training was done during normal offices hours, however pilots were expected to pay their way, out of pocket.

'Lounge' indeed...sounds like something BA would have had, long ago.

[jackbauer]

411, if your popularity on this forum is anything to go by I imagine most of your colleagues keep the lounge facilities a secret to avoid bumping into you. Now you know where they have all been hiding while you were drinking warm water with dry biscuits in the corridor!!!

[OMDB-PiLoT]

One day they will remove those simulators for cost savings and ask us to train on Microsoft Flight Simulator X :}

Edit: My bad, thats still expensive. More like MS Flight Simulator 95!

[EGGW]

Right lets cut out the spelling advice and English lessons for the colonials :ouch:

Anymore will be trimmed :=

EGGW

[pool]

..... transport survey refers (from BL)

this new crap should remind every one again NOT to fill out ANY survey. NADA.
Not that it matters anyway, but it sends a message, the one about us not giving a s#!t

[cerbus]

I guess it is a good move for you Bin Liner because you have no self restrain. As for the rest of us it was a nice break with some free sodas and candies that took our mind off the simulator and EK.
I can only guess what is coming next if a 50 cent soda and a 30 cent candy bar is costing the company to "lose" money. Flight pay, dental care, staff travel.. what will the arseholes think of next? Stay tuned

[mutt]

But if the service was being supplied by CAE, how was it costing EK any money?

Mutt

[PorkKnuckle]

It wasn't hard to see we'd be kicked out of the lounge eventually. It was WAAAAAY too good for us expat jinglies.

a 50 cent soda

"Mirinda"... it's that crap MidEast version of fanta, bottled/canned in the Saudi "kingdom" and India and retails for one dirham (25cents) in the pop machines. Times are tough...

The sandwiches are made with the standard local stale, crumbly, sugary bread, a shaving of chicken, and some flavoured paste. Not gonna miss them...

But no free Snickers bars!!?!?!?? Yet another kick in the balls for the SFIs!! :p


By the way, they also want you to switch off the power to the simulators downstairs at the wall, when you're finished.

[PorkKnuckle]

The jingly janitor is being paid a dit for every "scalp" he reports to the management.

Take off your tie, put on your old wings... no one will ever know you're EK.

[Wiley]

But if the service was being supplied by CAE, how was it costing EK any money?I believe it came from TF, the EK sim bosses' budget.

Thanks for OJs and the Kit Kats over all these years, Terry. Much appreciated, (if not by my waistline).

Won't miss the mini pizzas though.

[Saltaire]

Didn't really care much about the lounge food avail as did most others i would imagine. I remember the odd pespi jolt from the fridge was appreciated.

I see most others could take less as well. halas

[Spoogie]

If EK does this to their crew, what will happen to Air Arabia and FlyDubai? Do you think our management will impose a surcharge for taking food from home? There is already talk of "Hard Times" ahead! What difficult times we are facing!!

[jeff748]

It just won't be the same without cajun chicken sandwiches...

[Gulfstreamaviator]

The quality of the service to third party clients at CAE has slowly dropped to such a level that when asked to advise CAE DXB v FSI, I regret to say I advise FSI.

The training is better, and the ambiance is better too.

The 2nd floor lounge in CAE EK training centre has always been a hi suger environment, and as already stated a Mars Bar should not be the proffit / loss breaker.

I certainly will be going to FSI SAV soon, and CAE EK has lost 20 odd K US...a lot of mars bars. The end of course T Shirt, is better too.

glf

[trimotor]

Gents, whether the lack of CAE lounge access bothers you or not, we were told a couple of years ago to cease and desist from going there, so all that's been done is to enforce it, for whatever reason/s.

[AMF]

PorkKnuckle quote;

Take off your tie, put on your old wings... no one will ever know you're EK.

Oh god, please don't tell me there are those out there wearing ties and wings to training? It's ridiculous enough when it's required at those little "air cadet" pilot factories I've seen ads for, but for actual adults?........

trimotor quote; Gents, whether the lack of CAE lounge access bothers you or not, we were told a couple of years ago to cease and desist from going there, so all that's been done is to enforce it, for whatever reason/s.

Well, if there's free food in the vicinity, it just goes to show how short-sighted and ignorant airline management can be when it comes to realizing just how cheap and apparently starving some pilots are. They'd have more luck telling buzzards to stay away from a dead coyote. Pure folly.

[BackpackPilot]

Lounge access doesn't bother me. A free mars bar or a sh!t sandwiche? Pfffffft..... :rolleyes:

It's the stingy, tight-fisted, penny-pinching nature which "offends." They were tightening the screws years before they saw the profit go from 1.0 billion to "only" 0.4 billion.

You have to turn out the FLUORO lights but the bonii are still being paid (above our grade).

You have to pay for utilities now, contrary to what they promised you, but the bonii are still being paid (above our grade).

More flying but no more over-time pay for it FOR YOU but the bonii are still being paid (above our grade).

Now they've cut off our precious free mars bars, flat sodas, meatless mini-pizzas and sh!t sandwiches... it's the mentality behind it which bothers some people.

By the way, I ate my fair share of those delicious free mars bars (and so am partly responsible for the state of our poor company now as well as the BMI Index farce) and I ask you - how many times did you see the white stuff all over the chocolate? This means they're AGED, friends. Maybe EK were buying time-expired stock and passing it off as caring-sharing freebies at our first-rate facility.

Half-price old stock mars bars - what a joke! Just like the "special" Dom in first class, nothing is QUITE what they desperately want it to look like but won't actually pay for.

Would someone please ask the boss if it's okay for us to still use the lounge to just sit in the corner quietly, if we promise not to eat any of the lovely, delicious stale sandwiches and old mars bars? We could put some plastic chairs in the corner away from the free internet and the food just for The Professionals who fly their billions of dollars worth of brand new jets.