So you "think" you had a pay rise!
Cost Neutral
"Accept with thanks" the fact that our overtime rules were changed. If the change was truly "cost neutral" then why do it? Makes no sense to do so, no manager would make a change like that without a saving. I know one thing for sure, we are all working much harder since the change occurred. That is more like a change in conditions, and for the worse. The overall savings must have been enormous. We've managed to get by with fewer pilots than the old regime required. Managed to alienate a lot of pilots in the meanwhile. So now that we (EK) have saved a pile of money, we can afford to give you a little bit back (because it is cost neutral). Only we'll give it back later (we've banked the savings). Why? Because rampant inflation means that the numbers might look similar but the VALUE is less. A lot less.
If you are reading this from outside Dubai then you don't really get it. And the posts made so far reveal your naivety. Unless of course you live in Zim!
The IMF noted in 2006 that inflation remained one of the largest challenges for the UAE economy. The IMF indicated shortcomings in the methodology used to compile CPI data, including outdated weightings, lack of imputations for missing data and different reference periods. IE lets hide the true rate of inflation.
The next time you get stopped for speeding on the SZR ask your police man how big his pay rise was. Single digits? No....
We didn't get 18. We got 6 and some flight pay (no PF, or end of service)
Government employees get whopper pay rises. We are not government employees:
Expatriates versus nationals
In the case of the GCC countries, it is important to note there is a difference in the inflation levels felt by nationals and foreigners. In the majority GCC countries, a number of benefits are provided to nationals. For example, UAE nationals are provided with land to build a house and can apply for a soft loan to finance the building of a house. Other differences include the fact that UAE nationals pay less for electricity than expatriates and are not charged for water.
If you don't like your apartment, you won't be given any land to build on. No, you'll have to shut up or move out. Most pilots are smart enough to know that land ownership is a pension in a world where pensions are worthless. If you want to buy, this place is not cheap, and the villas are not expected to last longer than 30 years (that may be optimistic).
We work hard. Make no bones about it. No pen pushing, penny counting office wallah I ever met understood how hard a roster was to LIVE through. Any roster is hard work, but add time zone changes and working mostly through the graveyard shift (any where near 4am on your body clock) and that that is truly hard.
MY FINAL WORD:
In its Cost of Living Survey, Mercer Human Resources Consulting place Dubai as the 25th most expensive city in the world in 2006, out of 144 cities ranked; Dubai's ranking jumped from 73rd position in 2005.
Unless your pay jumped that much also then you received NO real payrise. Don't look at Dubai through Europe tinted glasses.