Rosters Today? + days off
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Qatar
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If any of you guys have friends in QR have a word and find out what their rosters are like, if life is as bad as you say it is then worth a look (I admittedly don't know what they are recruiting for right now but who knows for the future). Doha is no Dubai but the way the rosters are at the moment I could spend 12 days a month on average in Dubai (I actually have 16 days off at base this month with no leave).
It may not be like this forever, but at the moment life is good.
I know we have been the poor relation in the ME for some time, but are times a-changing?
Regards
It may not be like this forever, but at the moment life is good.
I know we have been the poor relation in the ME for some time, but are times a-changing?
Regards
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Escaped the sandpit 53° 32′ 9.19″ N, 9° 50′ 13.29″ E
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As far as I know the direct exit/entry Emirates/Qatar and vice versa is still closed.
Last edited by ExDubai; 1st Oct 2015 at 06:38.
short flights long nights
110 hours. Is it possible to function with any degree of safety with a roster of 110 hours? Let alone what it must be doing for your health.
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: US
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Newbie here...just a quick couple of questions.
I've been reading a lot of the posts but as an outsider looking in some of the terminology escapes me. So, are you guys seriously getting lines that only have 8 days off per month? Are the lines a 28 day or 30 day bid period?
Next, the leave/vacation. How many days is it per year and how many days can you use per month in a row? Is it limited?
I'm flying for a US based cargo outfit. The conditions here are very brutal so EK actually sounds like an improvement. Try flying with a double crew for a 30 hour duty day
And we have to be at the airplane 2+30 prior to departure (3+30 show in the lobby). And I've gone from Japan to Germany in a 2 day span after performing a double crew flight, all on the back side of the clock (of course after crossing that many time zones in such a short period backside of the clock is a moot point)...talk about wrecking your body!
And we are short on folks as well with many leaving so I typically fly 80-90 hours but do so in 17 days. BUT after flying for 17 days and getting pretty beat up I get home and have 13 or 14 days off. I've been considering EK and am very familiar with Dubai and the living conditions but if you guys are only getting 8 days at home per month I don't think that is something I or the wife can deal with...
I've been reading a lot of the posts but as an outsider looking in some of the terminology escapes me. So, are you guys seriously getting lines that only have 8 days off per month? Are the lines a 28 day or 30 day bid period?
Next, the leave/vacation. How many days is it per year and how many days can you use per month in a row? Is it limited?
I'm flying for a US based cargo outfit. The conditions here are very brutal so EK actually sounds like an improvement. Try flying with a double crew for a 30 hour duty day
And we have to be at the airplane 2+30 prior to departure (3+30 show in the lobby). And I've gone from Japan to Germany in a 2 day span after performing a double crew flight, all on the back side of the clock (of course after crossing that many time zones in such a short period backside of the clock is a moot point)...talk about wrecking your body! And we are short on folks as well with many leaving so I typically fly 80-90 hours but do so in 17 days. BUT after flying for 17 days and getting pretty beat up I get home and have 13 or 14 days off. I've been considering EK and am very familiar with Dubai and the living conditions but if you guys are only getting 8 days at home per month I don't think that is something I or the wife can deal with...
short flights long nights
You can't use any leave in a row per month. You are lucky to get any leave,
. And when you get it, they will cram in so much flying into the month you have 'leave ', it is just a punishment for having leave.
I was told at my interview that I,could bid for days off and add leave days to it.
It was a,complete lie. But once you are in, there is,no recourse back.
And, I'm out of it now, but ask the other guys about 14 days off a month. Might happen on the
380, but I'm not sure about the other fleets.
. And when you get it, they will cram in so much flying into the month you have 'leave ', it is just a punishment for having leave.
I was told at my interview that I,could bid for days off and add leave days to it.
It was a,complete lie. But once you are in, there is,no recourse back.
And, I'm out of it now, but ask the other guys about 14 days off a month. Might happen on the
380, but I'm not sure about the other fleets.
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Gasnhaul..
You say you don't like only 8 days off a month? Then Ek is probably not going to make you happy.
It's not just the ridiculously unsafe rostering that you have to deal with… it's the complete company culture of punishment at the silliest things to westerners that you just roll your eyes, shake your head and deal with it… as your only recourse is to leave.
And don't forget… if you DO want to leave there's this little thing called a bond which as I understand it is now at a whopping 50K Dollars US if you decide to leave before that 3 year bond is paid off.
Leave is advertised at 42 days per year but seldom given due to the shortage and there are some instances where you'll get them in groups of 5 days only, which for some or most, equates to not much more than a long weekend.
Finally, your rostering at your airline is better than at EK believe it or not in that you mentioned you get a few weeks off every other month or some such? No such thing at EK… you'll fly your 97 hours per month of unsustainable rosters month after month with absolutely no breaks until that coveted vacation comes around 6, 7 or 8 months later. You're a complete zombie by this time.
Oh, and that vacation that you need so badly?? It's not credited at all so if you have 2 weeks vacation for example, the other two weeks Ek will completely squeeze every single second of time in there to make you fly around 60 plus hours during that two weeks. Same with sims… no credit so you'll fly much more during that month.
There is SO much more to EK that what you see… kinda like the tip of the ice berg syndrome. There's a lot worse that you simply don't see nor will you be able to really digest from what those of us who've experienced it, endured and tried to explain to fellow countrymen asking us what it's like at EK. It's like nothing you can even imagine. Great crews to fly with, all extremely professional and that was one thing that kept me going for time there. The flying operation will be similar but that's about all thats similar.
My two fils
Kap
You say you don't like only 8 days off a month? Then Ek is probably not going to make you happy.
It's not just the ridiculously unsafe rostering that you have to deal with… it's the complete company culture of punishment at the silliest things to westerners that you just roll your eyes, shake your head and deal with it… as your only recourse is to leave.
And don't forget… if you DO want to leave there's this little thing called a bond which as I understand it is now at a whopping 50K Dollars US if you decide to leave before that 3 year bond is paid off.
Leave is advertised at 42 days per year but seldom given due to the shortage and there are some instances where you'll get them in groups of 5 days only, which for some or most, equates to not much more than a long weekend.
Finally, your rostering at your airline is better than at EK believe it or not in that you mentioned you get a few weeks off every other month or some such? No such thing at EK… you'll fly your 97 hours per month of unsustainable rosters month after month with absolutely no breaks until that coveted vacation comes around 6, 7 or 8 months later. You're a complete zombie by this time.
Oh, and that vacation that you need so badly?? It's not credited at all so if you have 2 weeks vacation for example, the other two weeks Ek will completely squeeze every single second of time in there to make you fly around 60 plus hours during that two weeks. Same with sims… no credit so you'll fly much more during that month.
There is SO much more to EK that what you see… kinda like the tip of the ice berg syndrome. There's a lot worse that you simply don't see nor will you be able to really digest from what those of us who've experienced it, endured and tried to explain to fellow countrymen asking us what it's like at EK. It's like nothing you can even imagine. Great crews to fly with, all extremely professional and that was one thing that kept me going for time there. The flying operation will be similar but that's about all thats similar.
My two fils
Kap
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: US
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Thanks guys for the info.
Most of the ACMI carriers at home offer a 17(ish) day on (typically all done in a row) and then the rest of the month off. So say you work the 1st thru the 17th, the 18th thru the 30th or 31st is then time off. And, like at the beginning of this year I worked a month for the first half, then took vacation during the next month (which I only had to use 14 days which were covered by my bid so the rest of the month was off) and then back halfed the following month...meaning two months off for 14 days of vacation used. Guess nothing even close to this could happen at EK.
I saw the 8 days off a month on the website and thought it had to be a mistake. Even the worst of the lot in the US, the commuters on reserve, get a MINIMUM of 11 days off per month and I thought they had it bad...
Is the work schedule on all fleets the same? Is this a temporary thing or something that will continue? I can definitely say I wouldn't even think of entertaining the thought of coming here if this is a permanent situation...
And, Kap, I believe the bond is now 5 years and $45K US
Gas
Most of the ACMI carriers at home offer a 17(ish) day on (typically all done in a row) and then the rest of the month off. So say you work the 1st thru the 17th, the 18th thru the 30th or 31st is then time off. And, like at the beginning of this year I worked a month for the first half, then took vacation during the next month (which I only had to use 14 days which were covered by my bid so the rest of the month was off) and then back halfed the following month...meaning two months off for 14 days of vacation used. Guess nothing even close to this could happen at EK.
I saw the 8 days off a month on the website and thought it had to be a mistake. Even the worst of the lot in the US, the commuters on reserve, get a MINIMUM of 11 days off per month and I thought they had it bad...
Is the work schedule on all fleets the same? Is this a temporary thing or something that will continue? I can definitely say I wouldn't even think of entertaining the thought of coming here if this is a permanent situation...
And, Kap, I believe the bond is now 5 years and $45K US
Gas
