New QR pay and conditions
New package at Qatar Airways for all aircraft types-
3.65QR = $1 US
Captains Base 20,000QR (F/O 14,000)
Housing Allowance 6,200QR
Transport 600QR
Total 26,800QR
For each schedule block hour of commercial flying Captains get 100QR (F/O 70 QR)
Meal Allowance for each hotel based on coffee shop price minus any airline discount.
For 60 hours a Captain will receive 32,800 QR (~$9,000) + meal allowance.
Educational allowance of 75% up to a limit of 30,000QR.
3 weeks gratuity of base salary for each year of service.
The company provides medical insurance for family (no dental).
42 days annual leave taken 2 times a year
1 return ticket per year for family to country of hire (J class on QR and Y class on other airlines).
Flying over 780 hours per year paid at 300QR (Captain)
Positives working for QR-
Money is always in the bank on payday!
New fleet (except A300)
Interesting flying and route structure
Positives for living in Doha-
Weather very nice 7-8 months of the year.
Very family friendly
No property crime
Negatives working for QR-
No bidding system for flying. You get what you are given, and are not allowed to make any requests for days off or a certain flight. Your personal life is not important. They are only required to give you 5 days off a month in Doha….will impress your wife!
Company has little concern for employee welfare. As an example over the last year 2 Cabin Crew (1 male and 1 female) have been raped by locals (that I know of). The following day the company fired and deported them.
Moral at QR very poor. About 5 pilots resign or are fired each month. Most pilots are actively looking for other employment. About 50 – 60 Cabin Crew resign each month.
QR has an agreement with EK, Etihad and Air Arabia that if you are working for QR those companies will not hire you.
Company permission is required to leave Qatar at any time (even for a few days off). You have to apply for an exit permit (which takes a few days) or pay 500QR to get a multiple exit permit that last for 1 year.
Less than truthful at interview. As an example some high time F/O’s where hired being told that upgrade would be 1 year later, after 1 year they where informed it would be 3 years. Other pilots were told that they would get 8 days off in a row every other month. I have yet to see more than 3 days off in a row and that is a very rare. Pilots were told that there would be no A-330 direct entries.
You can get fired for not wearing your hat – even on the crew bus traveling to and from airport when it is 50 deg C! The company policy is that you have to have your jacket between 15th of November to 15th of March or on European sectors no matter what the temperature.
QR encourages staff to report on other staff. Great for team building.
If QR fires you they can have you deported out of Qatar with in 24 hours.
High number of back of clock flights.
Poor efficiency of administrative staff.
No Providence Fund.
You can fly 100 hours in a month and not get paid overtime for it.
Negatives of living in Doha-
The cost of accommodation. Good family accommodation will cost between 8,000 – 13,000 QR in a compound. The price of accommodation has risen about 2000QR in the last year and will continue to rise due to shortage of houses and apartments and the large number of ex-pats coming into the country.
The Mosques. There are Mosques about every 2 – 3 blocks. If you are not Muslim, you may find their amplified calls to prayer (about 5 times a day) starting at around 4:45 am less than enjoyable.
The drivers. You have to experience it yourself to understand.
4 -5 months of very hot weather.
Large male laborer work force with very few females. Any females can get a lot of unwanted attention and harassed….
If you come to Qatar, come with your eyes open and ask the hard questions at your interview.
Good Luck!