Originally Posted by
cruisepower
Riyadh air will not struggle to find pilots in comparison to the other ME3 at least in the long run. There are virtually no foregin FOs at the current airlines in Saudi, they won't have problem finding local FOs unlike in UAE or Qatar the local pilot population is very low and its still a struggle ib encouraging the locals to be a pilot. The real fight will be for experienced Captains.
Now coming to Etihad its actually a very good company and most pilots are very happy there. They are now focused in hiring pilots for the Airbus widebody.
Yes you are right, they have an abundance of pilots in Saudi. I can’t comment on the quality of FOs or Captains as I’ve never flown with any. However I find it hard to see how Saudia would let a mass exodus of pilots leave for RIA, seeing as they are both state owned. Its not beneficial for them. Also Jeddah is likely a nicer base than Riyadh.
It also depends who you speak to regarding to pilots at EY. I know for a fact there are very few European/ Australian/ Americans applying for Etihad (single digits). Most are those that are currently not being accepted by EK. That says something also as to where the benefits are better.