Originally Posted by
777AV8R
I worked there for 10 year on the 777. If you can get through the training (you have to understand the system), this is the best job on the planet.
777AV8R knows of what he speaks. He added value to his next position as well in due course.
Korea is a unique country and people. The country itself is beautiful, and anyone immersing in the local area and culture will gain something from it. The language is interesting, and is quite enjoyable to learn, which will assist slightly, but is not otherwise needed. The airline engineering is remarkable; in 9,000 hours I had a single MEL for despatch. faults occur, but the engineers are the strength of the program.
The training program was and appears to remain, an ordeal. It is different, and not in a fun way. Anyone going there should consider it a rite of passage or an initiation ceremony to survive. It is not surprising, foreigners in any country are interlopers, and they are directly in the line of the rice bowl. If foreign pilots were brought into Delta or American, you would expect some friction, it is part of the reality of how humans behave.
Koreans as individuals can be incredibly generous. Don't lose your temper at any time, it is considered to be demeaning to you.
The contract was more or less always honoured, and generally activities are stable.
There are good people there, the locals and foreigners, and there have also been appalling foreigners and locals, it is a cross section of humanity.
Standard procedures are standard; There is good reason to be standard, and there is zero justification to not be standard. Foreign pilots from countries with strong individuality and propensity to ad-hoc, on the fly solutions are not tolerated there. Given the underlying language issues, it is paramount to be standardised,
Overall, it is a reasonable airline, but it is entirely dependent on the individuals temperament, consider it a mirror.
Getting involved in management is fraught with local politics, and results in confliction as often as not. Not impossible, but expect blowback.
good luck,
Overall, KE permits your family to stay home where they want to be, at the cost of your work demands. EK/EY is a lower stress environment to work, but you are in a sandpit. dealers choice, and good luck. As often as not, you will find the grass is greener next door due to some unpleasant realities that are discovered after you have jumped the fence. As you have a finite set of heartbeats, and ostensibly we are all working for our time with family, each person will have an optimal solution which may well be living in your own environment and enjoying your time with your family, in Europe, USA, Canada or wherever else. Both money and heartbeats get used up