Originally Posted by
MAXMEDLO
Boy oh boy oh boy,SRVDJZR, I dont think you'll be happy to know that the first 4 senior copilots have been promoted to captains,2 last month and 2 this month,I guess if you'd have waited and not had your head so far up your APU,you'd be in a better situation now,
But I rekon its a good thing you left after all since your too good for us to start with
MML
Max, I don't mean this to flame you but, while you appear to be a fairly educated and level-headed guy, you are quite obviously one heck of a koolaid drinker. And why shouldn't you be? You were there at the startup Al Jazzera and you beleive in your airline, and in your choices to stay there. Fair enough. But you and everyone else who has worked in the Middle East/ Kuwait know how unfairly expats are treated and how that can effect the overall operation of a company.
I ran an operation in the M.E. I spent two years beating my head against the wall trying to convince upper mgmt (the owners/ Sheiks) that the best way to run the company is to keep your word and take care of the employees (because they take care of your company/ product). I'm not saying the company needs to give away the house, rather they merely need to follow the contract and follow their word (an almost impossible proposition in the Middle East). If he was told he would upgrade, why should he expect otherwise? A verbal contract IS as good as a written one, the only problem being the burden of proof of course. Regardless, throughout the Middle East, pilots are treated like crap and expats treated like slaves (not being allowed to leave a country at your own will is tantamount to slavery... the Kuwaitis are masters at this, no pun intended). An educated man like yourself ought to at least pay some credance to this regional and cultural fact.
I understand you believe in your airline, but come on. Aren't you a pilot first? Can you not relate to the broken promises so rampant in that region of the world? The "arab-trader" mentality is to delay payment, circumvent contracts and play games with employees. When those employees are the asset managers (read: pilots), such tactics always prove to be fruitless in the end.
Why is it that the Captains are always the ones to stiffle an F/Os opinion of an airline either in cockpit conversation or on forum chatrooms? Most of these Captains had the same complaints when they were F/Os yet when they upgrade it's the same mantra: "you're lukcy to be here." I am guilty of this myself, but I try minimize it as I am aware of the difficulties in being a right seater (financial, cockpit prodecures change by captains, etc).
It seems a few pilots have left Al Jazzera. How much did the company spend in recruitment/ training costs to bring those pilots on board? Surely, one with such inside knowledge as you, should know. I bet it's upwards of $60,000 US per pilot. As economies of scale grow, such mismanagement will wreck an airline; hence management's necessity to compensate more and to start following the contract (read: skilled-labor retention)
There are two ways to run an airline and ONLY TWO. 1) Cost cut to the bone and pummel every vendor/ employee/ contractor. Or 2) Provide value to your product by motivating your employees to put a positive image on your product (ala Southwest Airlines style). I'm not saying this totally equates to pay, it's a philosophical approach as well.
When I took over the company in the M.E. that I metnioed above, we had a 90% employee turnover. Against the wishes of upper mgmt and the Sheiks, I applied approach #2 to the operation and violla, we had had employee retention which reduced our overhead costs in operations (motivated employees... motivated to see the company survive) and recruitment. The pay increase wasn't huge, rather it was in line with market rates. But our philospophical approach to treating crews as a partner to the growth of the company is what turned things around for us. All zero-cost items were approved. What does it cost Al Jazzera to let an employee fly for free? ZERO.
It appears your airline has learned some recent lessons of low employee moral and you are trophying this fact to beat down your "ex-colleague". Hardly a fair assessment, what say you?
And regarding what happened to him in Lebanon. You of all people should know there are two sides to any story. Your side may indeed be true since you seem to have some inside info on the event but let's be reasonable. The company will ALWAYS use the pilot as the scapegoat. ALWAYS. And how convenient it is to blame a former employee for an event if he is no longer around to defend himself.