Propoganda Alert
To all viewing this thread, be aware the Crinklestein is probably a management stooge.
I belileve his posts to be at best misleading.
Sure there will always be different views/opinions on every issue there is, but be warned.
Education: Different for everyone and totally cyclic. At present not bad, as there is choice. A couple of years back you couldn't get your kids into any decent school, let alone one of your choice, and that will probably reoccur as the current surge in school construction slows down. Real education, as we know it in the first world, at secondary level does not exist in this city yet. Additionally, private education (as Crinklestein refers to it) here, roughly equates to a good State School at home.
Two Tiered legal system: Crinklestein suggests that we should accept it and get on with life. I tend to agree. But be warned it is fraught with danger. Step over the line in the sand that you cant see, and you could very easily be in an unpleasant jail for some time. Just ask many of our pilots/managers/cabin crew who have been guests of the government. It is true to say this can happen at home, but at least you can be reasonably confident in most cases that your case will be heard in an impartial court with competent representation and you are generally not incarcerated until proven guilty. I would not say the same here.
Standard of Living: Once again personal. If you are from many of the poorer countries we recruit from then dubai will be a significant improvement. If you come from a country that enjoys plenty of public space for recreation, access to community run and supported clubs, proper regulation of standards such as laws governing quality of construction, proper consumer protection, uncensored television, internet, and print media. Not to mention not having your mail opened before you get it!!!, then you may be a little surprised by what you find.
Safety: Yes you are less likely to be shot in a drive by, or mugged by a crack addict, but you are immeasurable more likely to be involved in a serious car accident. We have the most dangerous road in the world here, and you have to drive on it almost daily.
Fatigue is a major issue, it cannot be addressed by
"sleep a little more on overnights and not party or shop too much" That is a pathetic attempt to make light of what is probably the single biggest flight safety risk at Emirates. Alomost all of our layovers are 24hrs, regardless of what the previous duty was, or next duty is. It is well documented that 24hr layovers are not manageable, regardless of how little shopping or partying one does.
Flight Time limitations: There is a lot more to flight time limitations than how many hours you fly in a year. 1000 hrs can be fine if you have proper regulation of rest periods etc. We dont. It is common to do an ULH flight to the East, return to Dubai and then be sent on a Westbound flight. Or do back of the clock turnarounds where you get to bed at Midday to be rostered again for similar that night. We operate many of our flights under dubious "exemptions" which allow us to do two sector flights under circumstances that a one sector flight would not be allowed.
Again, quoting yearly limits is a pathetic attempt to make light of another serious issue.
Management support: Except for family/health issues, such as long term sickness, serious illness or the recent trauma experienced by one of our families, management does not support us. We are further down the food chain than cabin crew, dispatchers etc. I think i can confidently say that, as a general rule, EK's corporate philosophy on man management is to periodically publicly crucify someone in order keep the masses in check. To be fair this happens less nowdays since many victims of this policy have taken them to court (in other coutries) and won significant victories. This would have to be one of the few airlines where flight operations management are marginalised in the running of the airline. Our managers have less influence than commercial, cabin crew, HR, or corporate communications, and that is over operational issues, let alone HR issues.
And Finally
"There are proper chanels to adress those issues. Certainly not slagging your own company and superiors on a public forum."
This statement is clearly one from a person who is a management stooge or very wet behind the ears. Sure there may be "Chanels" but they are ineffective. The only result of highlighting issues to management is to invite a torrent of invective from LRE et al. Where is the pilot representative body? Where is the forum to air concerns and be heard? where is the accountability of management? The single reason you see so much dirty laundry aired on Pprune is because there is no other practical option available. If people thought they could effect change through the command chain they would try. Many (including myself) have tried and none sucessful. Pprune is far from ideal, but I'm afraid its all we've got. That alone should tell wannabes something about our management.
Crinklestein, I believe you are a fraud and you are attempting to mislead people.
To all prospective applicants to EK, I say come have a look, talk to colleagues who have been here more than 3 years (They will have experienced some errosion in conditions or been victim of management misrepresentation) take into account what Crinklestein has said, along that that of negative posters, because i can assure you, there is some truth in all of it. It just depends on your perspective, where you come from, and where you plan to go.
One thing i cant deny, and that is EK is probably the best place in the world to come and get the right type rating to further your career. But for most EK will never be a career in itself and that is because, for most, Dubai is unlikely to ever be a place where you will want to spend the rest of your working career.
V