It's hard to remain balanced and focused on the areas that are of concern at midnight after a hard day's work, but I'll try and stay calm.
What a mess! I have never experienced such low morale in this company, a company that I applied to as far back as 1993 and hoped that one day I would join and be here in Dubai. Eleven years later and I wish I had not joined. What a very, very sad state of affairs. I am now experiencing possibly the lowest point of my professional life and for the first time have come to a crossroads. The decision that I will take is unknown to me yet, but the fact that I am there at all is an appalling indictment of the company for which I work.
We were once the proud owners of major awards, Airline of the Year no less! Now our customer complaints division is overworked. Technical delays were unheard of, now they occur with frightening regularity. Training staff were the pick of the crop, now many are inexperienced individuals just happy to get the title and pick up the extra cash. No offence, but would you really be Training Captains in BA, QANTAS, Cathay etc? Individuals made the Flight Operations department what it is today. Publications such as the route manual were all done by pilots working that bit extra to benefit the team. Now the pilots are not interested in doing that wextra work as they are not being properly remunerated. We have non-flying management staff, non-pilots in the case of the two fleet managers, who whilst very capable gentlemen, still think that pilots are overpaid and underworked. Yes, that old chestnut! I just wish it were true.
I am not going to attack individuals, I am not going to lower the gear 50 miles out, I am not going to write in and complain, or seek an audience with the management. The reason? None of that will work at all.
The last and only time in my recollection, that any change was brought about by the pilot body, was when a meeting was chaired by Mr. Maurice Flanagan and Mr. Tim Clark, effectively the top brass. This meeting was called to address the changes in upgrade criteria after the Gulf Air A320 accident in Bahrain. This affected the majority of First Officers as the hours requirement went from 4,500 to something ridiculous and an extended period of time in the company. After hearing what the pilots had to say, the criteria was reduced to the current 6,000hrs and three years in the company. Yes, still very good, but prior to that, those with suitable experience were being promoted in less than twelve months.
But will we have that opportunity again? No. The reason? Because at the last meeting, chaired by the new Executive Vice President Engineering and Operations who was widely believed to be addressing us in order to announce the results of the 'review' that was reportedly to have been taking place since the last pilots meeting, the pilots felt as if they had wasted their own time to listen to what was said and felt that their opinions, concerns and grievances were not being listened to. All the meeting achieved in my own opinion was to demonstrate the lack of man management skills held by that management at that time. The decision was then made to not have any further meetings due to the lack of respect shown towards the EVP E&O. I know things are done differetly here, but respect is earned through actions and deeds rather than expected due to position or title held, in my book anyway.
Mr. Alan Stealey has recently joined us from British Airways with a good reputation and a solid man management background. If what has been written is to be believed, then he does not 'need' this job. Would he not be the most respected of all managers if he actually stuck his own neck on the block and started batting for his own staff in order that the correct changes can start happening? But then he has only been here 5 minutes and is probably not aware that this most recent change is only the last in a long line of changes, some trivial some not, but all negative in their impact. Let me repeat that:
This most recent change is only the last in a long line of changes, some trivial some not, but all negative in their impact.
But then what Flight Operations manager has been there long enough to be able to document and quote all those changes? For those not in the know, we have had five Head of Flight Operations in almost as many years. How long will it be before Mr. Stealey is escorted unceremoniously from the offices by Group Security? That does seem to be the preferred method of career execution here.
Well its pretty evident. There are two groups here.
Is it? To whom? I fall into neither category. Yes, I am just another expat pilot trying to earn a decent wage and get ahead of the life that I left behind, in my case, in the UK. I figured that the advantages of tax-free living in a relatively cheap part of the world, having fun and working for a rapidly expanding airline far outweighed my old life, a real rat race, back in Blighty. But I am not going to keep my mouth shut in order to put food on my table. There are principles at stake here that need addressing. The company no longer provides an open forum at which we can discuss our concerns, so those same concerns get aired, unfortunately, in a public domain such as this. If there was no PPRuNe it would be discussed somewhere else.
The company has effectively altered my contract of employment, the future impact has yet to be seen but taking the last twelve months of work and overlaying the new block hours productivity pay, I lose in simple cash terms 9% of what I have earned. That is a fact and has been calculated on the period from the 1st September 2003 to 31st August. 9% of what I earned last year would not have been paid to me had I worked under these new conditions. Other factors that have influenced my concern regarding the financial remuneration is the escalating cost of living in Dubai. That last is a fact and research shows that the rate of infaltion has grown from an annual CPI (Consumer Price Inflation) of 1.9% in 2000 to 3.2% in 2003. The figures for 2001 and 2002 of 2.7% and 2.9% respectively, clearly show an upward trend. Incidentally with an annual increase in the population of 7.6% (the largest increase of anywhere in the world) is it any wonder that the traffic and congestion is becoming ridiculous and the roads are a nightmare?
Before all you non-EK pilots start saying how lucky we are and that how hard done by you all are, yes, we did recieve a large bonus this year. But I contributed to the success that the company achieved last year. I contribute, as do all of my colleagues, from pilots to floor cleaners, on a daily basis to the increasing ambitions of this carrier and if I am working harder and harder in order to achieve that success, then I consider a bonus to be fair reward for that work. But also consider that we have no pension scheme and that the monies invested for me on my nehalf by the company in our provident scheme has shown a growth of -4% over the last six years. That is not a typo, the - sign is deliberately before the 4!
My advice to anyone considering joining Emirates is not even to consider it. Stay where you are and try and get enough dosh behind you to change careers altogether. It's been fun, but this one has now gone down the toilet.
P.S. Mr. Buford, Americans really should read up on foreign affairs. The Queen Mother died peacefully in her sleep in March, 2002. Your reference to others as 'Cowboys' is also resented.
Aaah! I see someone has beaten me to it! Still, you shouldn't go around calling people names.