Originally Posted by
778Skywalker
Hi all fellow airmen! I am looking at extending my career after retirement (yes early at my current airline). I hear varying opinions about Qatar airways but as always it depends on who is evaluating and the expectations of the individual. I do understand everyone has different expectations and do respect that. In my case I feel I would need a new challenge and an adventure. My financial security is not dependent on my next move (though I still have kids in Uni to support) I see it indeed more as an adventure. I did apply recently and fulfill all the requirements mentioned by far, however I have not yet heard anything. No age limit is mentioned (approaching 58). Anyone with some inside knowledge who would care to share some info? Are they actively looking for DEC 777 or 787? What is the selection like? How is life in the "Pearl" (I heard this is where they would be putting you....). How about T&C, -at what year would you intercept the salary ladder mentioned on PPJN? Is this counted towards your PIC hours on type? Also if you have any other operators you can suggest for a rated DEC 777/787 position. Grateful for any info that might help. Thanks a million!
Hi
778Skywalker , I wouldn’t be concerned about your age…if you meet the requirements, I’m sure they’ll be interested and I believe they are still looking for DECs to 777 / 787. However I think recruitment has slowed down temporarily as there are a lot of internal transfers and upgrades happening at the moment. But, rest assured, they still need a lot of pilots! Unfortunately I cannot comment on how the selection is.
As
wing-man said above, it’s not guaranteed you will go to The Pearl straight away. The company will almost certainly put you in company accommodation of their choosing. It’s not common to get The Pearl as your first residence. Expect to wait several months before you can move there…maybe as much as a year! But I don’t know how long the list is at the moment. You have to request to either move within company accommodation, or leave company accommodation. Last I heard, the waitlist to leave was approx 2 years long. Moving within company is generally quicker.
As for life in The Pearl, I can’t knock it too much…it is certainly one of the nicer areas to live in Doha. If you leave company accommodation and want to rent in The Pearl, you’ll find it is quite expensive, and bills are generally higher than in other areas of Doha (I don’t really know why). But overall the life is more relaxed in The Pearl which I like. I lived there for 2 years with family before being made redundant and we were happy there. Commuting to work is generally not an issue from there either.
As for Ts & Cs, the pay points on PPJN are still very much accurate. You would enter as a first year Captain, so your basic would be 32,550 QAR plus the additional allowances (excluding accommodation allowance if you are in company). Also you mentioned you still have kids in Uni…? I think if they are younger than 21 then you will receive an education allowance for them (I think it’s 125,000QAR / year, but I don’t know much about how this works yet so I’m not the person to ask.)
PIC hours on type…I can’t see any reason why your hours wouldn’t count? Not sure I fully understand this question.
Finally, I think Emirates and Etihad are both open for applications for 777/787 respectively, otherwise in Europe I heard certain cargo carriers (DHL, Aerologic to name 2) are still looking for Boeing pilots. But last I heard about these were a couple of months ago so they may have closed by now.
Hope this all helps. All the best!