Originally Posted by
Desertboki
This is the joke of the day. I remember the Peninsula in Chittagong with bed bugs.You will be telling me it’s the Burj Al Arab next. My unfortunate friend who is still there says he stayed in an Ibis in Budapest. As for the health insurance good knows what Damam is . You really need good Heath insurance in the Middle East for your family.
Again, your negative attitude. Can you not accept that it might not have suited you but suits others really nicely? I’ve got no fancy whatsoever of even looking at EK.
Ok. Some facts. We currently have around 100 destinations of which 29 are layover destinations. And only one day deadhead to Sharm El Sheikh by the way. Unless that night Alexandria is still there that would make it two deadheads. One day, one night. But I’ve not done that one in years nor do I know if it still there or not.
All crew hotels are 4 stars except Budapest and Krabi. Never been to both of them so I can’t judge them. Three of them are actually 5 stars. Furthermore stars ar in my eyes subjective. Just like Skytrax awards. P.s. the CGP hotel has been changed many, many years ago. The current one is one of the most fancy ones we have actually. So strange to have such a hotel in such a poor country. We briefly changed to a different provider in DAR a while back but after many crew complaints we were back in our old one very quickly. It was actually changed to reduce commute times due to the horrible DAR traffic. So we do get listened to.
Our health insurance provider usually changes every year. This year we have Damam. And so far so good. I’ve (me+family) had to use it a few times unfortunately but got much better service and quicker approval times than say AXA. The policy is the same as our previous supplier AXA. I’m not up-to-speed with maternity cover details tbh.
Why is your friend ‘unfortunate’? If you feel pity on him that says something about you. If he doesn’t like it then there are other options around the world. The pilot job markets goes in cycles as you know. Wait for the next wave and surf out into the sunset…
The command time will come down again. We’re taking in 17.5% of the amount of MAX’s Southwest receives in 2022. That’s an airline with a fleet of 730+ 737’s. And NG leases have been extended as I already mentioned. Seeing we’re in a (p)endemic too I would say there is cause for optimism.
I know you’d laugh at me for saying this but I’m very happy at FDB.
A guy I know that went from FZ to EK many moons ago developed ‘obstructive sleep apnea’. According to himself due to sleep deprivation. He wishes he’d stayed at FZ despite making more money now. Swings and roundabouts.
The rosters are really not bad tbh. No bidding or swapping is a big issue. That’s true. Swapping comes back in March but at a reduced scale. Other than that a few too many layovers for my liking but that’s just me. All night DHD’s are I think gone (see comment above) and are now layovers. The longest night turn we have is Colombo. So no winter ops. The longest night turn with winter ops is only Bishkek followed by MCX in Southern Russia or Tashkent. The other winter ops ones all changed to layovers a long time ago. Then there are the night India turns. The same ones as EK, Air Arabia or Etihad. Or Oman, Gulf Air, Jazeera, Salaam Air, Kuwait etc etc. Some airlines do layovers there. Personally I’m glad we don’t. Not because of the destinations but just because I don’t want nor like layovers.
As long as you come to the Middle East knowing the facts you know what you can reasonably expect. Not everyone is suited to FZ nor EK. Nor perceived ‘dream jobs’ like BA or DL. The job itself is 50%. The other 50% is the region/country/politics/safety and you family wishes and desires for now and the future.