Against the grain…
I spent over 8 years at QR and never once ran into any of the issues been written about here. i heard plenty of stories during my time there and one underlying issue with them was the source. The people the stories were about would probably no doubt have an issue with their employer no matter where in the world they worked.
I finished my time there as a TRE on both the A330 and A320 and my family and I had a bloody good life while we were in Doha. It has afforded me the opportunity to go elsewhere in the world to ply my trade to good effect.
The one part I will agree on is that when I joined (as an FO) the training wasn’t training, (unless you got a good trainer who was doing it for the right reason), it was check check check! After about 3½ years that changed when they bought in the EBT programme and it changed for the better! It became more about training and less about checking, however if for some reason you were inadequate, you were given extra sessions to bring you up to the appropriate level.
I would never have joined the training department had the philosophy of training not changed.
Obviously, having left the airline 3 years ago I cannot comment on recent issues being faced, things have changed as they have everywhere else in the world. The life in aviation has been changed now, due to COVID, throughout the world and it is going to take a long time for the industry to recover. Airlines are doing what they have to do to survive, whether it is black, white or grey, and as pilots we have to as well. Some of the things being done are extreme and please don’t get me wrong, a lot of what is going on, I do not agree with and is most definitely detrimental to the ongoing safety of crew and passengers.
Another point about the author of this article made was regarding the stripes worn by various First Officers. The principal used by Qatar Airways was the same as that used in both airlines I flew for in the UK before going there. A junior FO (to the company) had two stripes until it was deemed he was senior enough, and had enough experience, to become a senior FO and get another stripe. A Second Officer has one stripe. Interestingly enough it is also the same where I work now.
Age most certainly does not have anything to do with it…
Now what I’ve written is only my account of my time at Qatar Airways. As I said I cannot and will not assume to know what has happened since leaving. I do know wherever you are and whatever you do, people will have different experiences based on their personalities etc and not everywhere is the right fit for everyone.