Granny
Have you worked in the Middle East before or have you managed to avoid the axe over the years?
I must admit, that I have enjoyed working in the Middle East, sometimes more than other times and was fortunate never to got fired, but did observe several “issues” as mentioned below.
I somehow managed to just avoid some of these issues, some of the time, but as for working for helicopter companies in the Middle East, SASless pretty much hit the nail on the head.
Granny, I know a couple of your countrymen that acted in the most professional manner at Xxxx Helicopters, only to have resigned or being fired for various ridiculous reason's.
An incident comes to mind. A chief training captain was reported for being a "racist" because of his high standards and values and for not believing a certain local individual had what it took to be a captain on a Bell 412, flying offshore missions for several oil companies in the Gulf. Needless to say management had the individual removed from the company and the local was made a captain.
There are many stories about people being dismissed, fairly or unfairly, depending on which side of the fence you were standing, or if you were precariously perched on top of it…
The sad thing is that there are some expat managers in the Middle East at this stage that do not have the guts to stand up for their pilots or the rules as laid down either by SOP’s or Aviation Authorities, obviously in fear of losing their own jobs.
Unfortunately, due to this culture of fear in the Middle East, serious issues including backing of pilots, flying standards, duty hours and flight safety, takes a back seat due to managerial and cultural influences.
Also remember, saving face is what it is all about for the locals in the Middle East. The only head that will roll, is that of the expat, that was closest to the screw up that happened. The local or locals, including the Indian mafia, will come out smelling like roses and the expat will be out of there so fast, he'd look like a headless chicken, while the chickens in management will just sit on their perches, as mentioned before, and watch the proceedings from a distance.
I ask you, how can you work efficiently as a pilot, maintain your own professional standards and look yourself in the eyes every morning, for a meagre "tax free salary", especially when you don't know whether you will still have a job in the evening, should something go wrong or at the whim of how the local manager is feeling that day?
If you want to work in the Middle East, you are going to have to accept that it is their country, their Civil Aviation Authority, their helicopter organisation, their culture and belief’s, their pilot’s and managers, their rules and that you are an expendable infidel, there to sing and dance, quietly to their tune, only one step up from being a slave as you are paid a meagre “tax free salary”.
It’s not a question of “ If you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen”, it’s a question of trying not to be in the wrong place at the right time, albeit in the kitchen or the cockpit, the art of a fine balancing act, which some expats with brown noses, do better than others.
Stick to those rules, accept their standards and / or disregard your own standards, keep your mouth shut and you will be fine, or the alternative is what I did, move on, even if you did enjoy the social lifestyle.
All as simple as that.
