G9 aka ABY
Air Arabia has some real problems and some fantastic perks. From the pilots standpoint the major problems exist in several areas.
ABY is a money-making machine! Loads, to India especially, are in the 90+ %. Flights are full throughout the year. Once a new city opens, the flights quickly fill (within weeks) to 80% + load-factor. Growth is unbelievable and a large percentage of the Captains were first officers only a few years ago. These facts, lead to many of the complaints.
Currently there are 8 aircraft on property with one wet lease. 3 additional a/c are coming this year and if 2006 was an indicator the true number will likely be 4-5.
The Bad
1. Pay and benefits are not comparable to other carriers in the region (not even close.)
2. Pay is not commensurate to the amount of work the crews do.
3. Scheduling is horrific and little change is in sight. Comments like Air Arabia is a startup airline are no longer valid.
4. Housing pay is insufficient for the actual cost of living.
5. Leaders in HR are Indian nationals that feel pilots should live like other working Indians in the UAE.
6. Education reimbursement costs are extremely low and inadequate for anyone with children.
7. Work is extremely hard with an inordinate amount of flying between 10PM and 8AM local time at no extra pay.
8. There are no overnight rests (except for Colombo, Sri Lanka.)
9. No retirement and no travel benefits.
10. Medical horrible and no dental
The Good
1. The actual working environment (the cockpit) is a fun place to be.
2. Management lets you do your job and does not micromanage your performance.
3. The airplanes are all new and very well maintained (by most standards.)
4. Upgrades for F/Os are quick and usually within the time period mentioned when the pilot arrives (assuming the pilot has the credentials.)
5. Management is usually straight forward (except on the rates of pay.) What they say (while you may not like it) usually is what they mean and will do. Open doors at all levels from Fleet Manager to CEO.
6. A fully diverse pilot group. The Former Soviet Union is represented with Armenians to Ukrainians. Europe has Spanish, Irish, Belgians, Italians, French, Portuguese, and of course the British. The Americas are represented by Canadians, Brazilians, and Columbians. The Arab world ranges from Tunisians, Sudanese and Egyptians in Africa to Oman, Iranians and Emiratees in the East.
7. Pay is always on time and bonuses are within those of others. (Talk is this year it will be 4 months basic salary.)
8. For a young kid flight time is rapidly gained.
9. Paid annual leave ticket to your home of record for you, spouse and up to 3 children.
10. Talk of stock given in an IPO.
It appears the philosophy of Air Arabia is NOT to have long term employees. The turnover rate is extremely high. Pilots are constantly understaffed; however, proper staffing will result in large pay reductions for the remaining pilots. There have been a number of “cadet pilots” who have worked for no pay, but did get experience. After finishing their cadet status, they are brought on the seniority list and rapidly gain additional experience. Some of these have since left and gone to carriers like Easy Jet in Europe. Also, pilots who have never had command status before now have been upgraded to Captain. It is their first command and within three years they can have 2400 hours command time.
Now there is nothing from preventing a pilot for staying as long as he or she desires. Longevity raises are annual and while not included in your “basic salary” for reasons mentioned on other posts; the cash spends all the same. They have the largest number of female pilots (based upon the ratio of total pilots to female pilots) in the area. There is already an Arabic female Captain and the first female F/O is currently in her upgrade evaluation process.
A large percentage of the pilots are upset. I do feel management is aware of this situation and their course of action will determine the future. A pilot will work extremely hard flying 100 + hours every month and do 150 – 175 duty hours a month. While the print says “home every night,” that is misleading. Home is really only a short rest period, for the pilot has insufficient legal time to go to dinner and have a few drinks with his wife before he flies again. It is very common for a pilot to leave at 9PM and fly all night returning at 8AM the next morning. Then the pilot will go and fly again at 9PM that same evening. This will be done to the limits of the law (3 in a row and 4 in 7 days.)
The company also has the belief that a pilot should work a set number of days (which is getting harder to do.) The stated number of days off is 8 per month however; the flying is getting longer all the time. 9 hours flight time a day is very common in only two sectors and the company average is over 7 hours per day. Doing the math one can see that 100 hours does not add up to 22 days of work. As a result scheduling will have you fly long flights for most of the month and then fly short (DOH, BAH, MCT, KWI etc) flights to “fill” in the number of day. It is very common for a pilot to have 80 hours by the 15 of the month and then finish the month working 18-22 days at 95-100 hours. Two weeks of annual leave will still have you flying 45-60 hours.
Housing is a real issue and transportation is non existent. So for the most part that is it!
Burners and Out!