abudhabidaz

For all those thinking of joining an Abu Dhabi based Line Maintenance Department, (im sure you can work out who im talking about), i have been in Abu Dhabi for 4 months, nice enuff place, tho things do seem to be run a lil different to the norm as compared to australia.

For example, for those engineers thinking about joining, please take my experience and think long and hard. After leaving my country and travelling half way across the world for a "7 Star Airline" (see i havent lost my sense of humour), the real deal is as follows, you will be working for an MRO, not an airline as im sure most of you will be told, the price of accomodation will be at LEAST double what you will be told, and well above the allowance you will be given. Now the shift will be 4 on 4 off, PLUS COMPULSARY OVERTIME and COMPULSARY FLYING ENGINEER, as i was told this morning from HR, if its 'rostered' into the roster then you WILL work it!! , as it is now part of yr roster!!!!. Which is ok, because they will give you time in lieu for it, (so u will be given time off for the time you were supposed to get off anyway??? SOUNDS GOOD HUH!!!)

let me put it into perspective for alot of the guys working there, they do their 4 on, the 4 off is mostly broken down as follows:1st day off..go to sleep as u finish at 6am on yr first day off, second day off there is need for a support shift, (overtime, day or nightshift depending on requirements), third day off you may be needed for flying engineer(worst case scenario could be a flight to bombay, 18 hrs return), fourth day, more sleeping so yr right to go back to work the following day. Now im fair, this didnt happen to me, but plenty of other guys who have worked there longer than me this seems to be the normal routine, again being fair, im not sure how often this happens to them.

Now for overtime u get time in luie, time off for the extra hrs u worked, but u were due that time off the first place, so yr actually given the time off you earnt allready.

Flying engineer, you are given time in luei and a one off payment off approx 450 dirhams!!! This is the payment no matter where u fly to. BARGAIN!!!

And if you dont want to do these extra hours, you have a choice, like i found out this morning,

A: you do the hrs on yr roster, whatever the hrs are! or...
B: you refuse to do extra hours and flying engineer work and you get the sack!!!

One thing finally is clear......i now know who i dont work for!!!!

Sadly, i was looking fwd to my time in the middle east, to all the guys currently here and new guys joining. I wish you all the best, Just be very wary of what you are told at an interview, and what actually is the case once you arrive!!

ENJOY!!!
Daz

Bug-a-lugs

That sounds like a fairly honest post.

Well Done.

Pity more guys dont say how it really is.

Best of luck.

torquebox

Thankyou very much for the advice Darren. I was just going through a job offer from them at the moment so it was really good to hear from you about how it really is. Are you staying there or looking at coming back or going elsewhere?

spannersatcx

plenty have said how it is, maybe not on here so much may of been you need to do a search, try airmech.

sam767

Some news from Abu Dhabi.
Etihad/Gamco.
What a way to advertise this place and attract qualified engineers to work for a so called 7 star Airline.
Mr Ian Williams and his good buddy Jeffrey Wilkinson (known as Jeff) just sacked an Australian guy because he refused to work on his day off, they expect to get western guys out here to work and treat them like slaves yes slaves. What a shame they are to the west and to the 21st century we leave in.
They want to force people to work on days off without any overtime pay. Because they are in the Middle East they thing they can get way with it. Shame on them for being x engineers.
They did that to make an example of him and scare every one. Word from the grape vine when the timing is write all the engineers are planning to walk out.
I would say fair play to them!!!
Anyway. Any body out there know anything about these 2 clowns????
He has taken a job he can not handle so he takes out his frustration on individuals, instead of listening to the qualified guys and change things, apparently a few months he sacked a contractor because he told him how he should do his job.
And HR they do not even know what a line operation is all about and have never worked 12hrs days in 50 degrees C and another 2 nights in humid conditions.
Maybe pilots should start questioning if these aircraft are safe to fly on if companies are ignoring Human Factors!!!
If anyone is coming out here make sure you ask HR to change your contract and be more specific about your roster as in 4 on 4 off shift system and also ask them to be specific about over time and get that as part of your contracts.
We idiots just took there word for it and now we are suffering big style.
But what comes around comes around. We will see what we will do in a few weeks time. You mess with fire you get burnt.

abudhabidaz

I will be heading back to Australia in the short term torquebox, but i have a contract mob with work in malaysia and singapore, so will see what happens with that. i figure emirates will work on the same principles as this mob, and frankly i wont put up with it!!
Daz

yamaha

are they EASA approved?

and if yes which national authority has put their name to it?

spannersatcx

Abu Dhabi Aviation is approved by DGAC France. Why?

torquebox

Is Hamish of any help over there Daz??

Terry McCassey

Sam767 - pm me if you wish, can tell you a few stories . . . .

Jet II

heard they sacked 40 cabin mechanics yesterday due to having forged documents..

BAe146s make me cry

There's one guy on the run in the UK, having falsely declaring himself
the holder of an EASA 66 AML - What EASA Part 145 Organisation's
QA dept allows that to happen?

Ned Coates

What?, Falsely running around in the UK? Or having a Falsely piece of paper? And who is this Falsely anyway?

Hwky76

Sad to say all the above is true but hardly scratches the surface of the place. The writing is on the wall - embossed in huge bold letters. An incident/accident is only just around the corner, particularly with the current management style and impressionable workforce. Er, my mistake, I meant another incident.

For what it's worth, if you are thinking of joining - don't. If you are thinking of leaving - do.

For all of us that passed through that most interesting place, I'm sure we are much the wiser.

jetspanner

hey,
are you still in the gulf ? do you hold EASA licences ? Im in Bahrain I believe they still hire here

747mel

Who is hiring in Bahrain, and is it any good ?

spannersatcx

The conclusion from the above and other forums is no.

I've known a couple of guys that went there, things change as soon as you get there from what you are offered to what you actually get, they left as soon as they could.

goldbudgie

Hwky76 .. very true. Anyone should go there only for the money. I worked in that part of the world some years back. you have to be able to take a lot of sh*t from management if you want to survive there. But at that time the rates were comparatively good and you could save a bit as it was tax free. Also accomodation was cheap. Looks like things haven't changed much otherwise. Middle management was just the same running like headless chicken worried only about schedules and not safety.