Once the emotive responses are done with and tempers have cooled somewhat, maybe it’s time to look at what’s really happened here.
1. Do the PowersThatBe recognise that something needs to be done to address the current situation?
- It would appear so – (and some would say: “not before time!!”)
2. What does this announcement really represent?
- An ambit offer, pared down to the absolute minimum those same PowersThatBe believe they can get away with.
3. Is it sufficient?
- While it’s certainly welcome, I don’t think the PowersThatBe really understand the depth – or breadth – of disillusionment and cynicism among the pilot group, especially the First Officers. It’s now a novelty to meet a happy FO, and if he is, you can almost guarantee he’s still in the ‘toy phase’, that first few months in the country.
I agree with the person who already said it above – it’s now gone well beyond ‘just’ a question of money.
4. Will this stem the rate of resignations?
- Perhaps a little, but in my opinion, not by much. Most looking to go elsewhere are weighing many other factors apart from money.
6. Will it increase the recruit base?
- Let’s be honest – yes. But much of this positive effect will be lost by the very negative message potential recruits will receive by word of mouth from friends and colleagues who are already here – and from sites like this.
EK will always attract applications from a wide range of wannabes, many with no shortage of skills and aptitude, but without the experience levels EK has to date been able to demand. And in the not so distant future, I suspect they may be forced to dip a little deeper into that wannabe pool than they have to date, which has all sorts of implications to the training that will have to be provided that until now, EK has got for free (even if they all too often make no use of it!!!).
7. What are some of the non monetary considerations that are weighing so heavily on people’s unhappiness levels?
- Some have been mentioned already. I can only mention the ones that impact on me.
Dubai simply isn’t what it used to be.
The traffic has become utterly horrendous. Mr Ed himself mentioned in his last missive to pilots that over the last twelve months, and extra 500,000 cars have been added to Dubai’s roads, (and God alone knows how many unregistered cars on top of that).
But it’s not just the quantity of traffic, but the two tier system of law enforcement (and not just on the roads) that prevails in Dubai. Many drivers operate their vehicles with utterly mind-boggling disregard for the most basic rules of commonsense survival, to the point where many of us now avoid using the roads as much as possible because we go in fear of our lives every time we step into our cars.
As an example far too close to home for comfort, many of us will be going to a memorial service on Thursday for the daughter of one of our senior pilots. She was killed in particularly grisly circumstances in a road accident a few days ago. At 20, she is the third young person from the same year from one Dubai high school to be killed on the roads in Dubai since they graduated – (and it’s worth noting that one of the other two dead from that same class was also an Emirates pilot’s daughter). Her 22 year old companion killed in the same accident last week is the second to die on Dubai roads from his year from the same school.
And it needs to be said that in most of these accidents, the major cause wasn’t the young kids speeding or doing something silly, but others, their elders, driving at ridiculous speeds in heavy traffic in built up areas.
Housing/rental, or the cost thereof. The subject’s been done to death, but it’s a huge factor to many here.
Basings. In the not so distant past, the Dubai economy was small and the financial input of the EK pilot group having their families in Dubai was a significant part of the local economy. Dubai has grown well past the point where the (even larger) EK pilot group has any real impact anymore.
In fact, the company has grown now to the point where another factor should be seen as having become more important: EK can no longer hope to get away with finding someone on leave in a distant port who is willing to bail the company out by operating a flight when someone goes sick downroute.
We need to start basing pilots, or failing that, (and maybe even better than basings), allowing a number of pilots to write their rosters from a designated outport. Of course it will make things more complicated for the schedulers, but it will save the company money and give it far more flexibility downroute when crews go out of hours or fall sick, Another huge factor, basing will retain for the company many pilots who are willing to remain in EK employment but are not willing to remain living in the ‘new’ Dubai.
8. Will they up the offer?
- I think they’ll have to, (or at least sweeten the deal with a few more lumps of sugar that won’t necessarily involve more money), if I’m right and the resignations continue and suitable recruits don’t appear in considerably larger numbers.
I’d also like to know the details of the new hourly flight pay. Will it apply to deadheading? Simulator? Groundschool?