Hansol, I know you like Air Arabia as much as I do. But please don't give misleading information about that "home every night" stuff. We know that most AA flights are nighttime, and the truth of the matter is, you don't just have the energy anymore after each flight to go partying in Dubai.
If your intention is to encourage more pilots to join AA then tell them the real picture. At least when they do get in they know what to expect.
Okay, just for the benefit of those asking for any info about AA, these are the facts:
1.
Salary? For a loco, pay in AA is very good, but that is if you fly your butts to the max. You fly more than 75 hrs and you're sure to get good money.
2.
Flights? Expect to gaze at the infinite vastness of the dark skies as most flights are done at night. No layovers except Colombo. The turn-arounds are real killers, especially if they are done succesively.
3.
People? I would say that people are nice - from management down to the simple errand boy. Everybody respects everybody. The CP, Fleet Mgr, Trng Mgr, DO, HR - they're all professional and easy to deal with. Just expect a little delay when following up some things from HR, I think they are a bit undermanned there with ****loads of work to do. But with patience things get done though.
4.
Facilites? Forget it. Until now we are still housed at the old Sharjah cargo terminal. Sometimes when you report for work, you pass thru a mountain of goat meat being weighed and loaded to cargo containers right outside the office. We have been told many times that Flight Ops will be transferred soon to the new terminal, but that hasn't happened til now. They say it will be this coming July. Promises...promises...
Sharjah airport being renovated. Almost complete but the immigration area still stinks. When you pass thru you have to hold your breath for 3 mins to avoid toxic inhalation of bad foot smell and body odor.
6.
Social life in the company? Fun? Zero. Nil. There are no social gatherings, no company parties to look forward to. It is a purely professional working relationship with everybody. The hi's and hello's and how are you's are endless. From the time you check in until you check out expect to make about a hundred handshakes. But expect nothing more than that. After each flight everybody just want to go home as fast as they can and crouch in fetal positions in their bed before going to sleep and say "I am happy, I am happy, I am happy...ZZZZZZZ".
7.
Career advancement? Very slow command upgrades due to hiring of DECs and lack of instructors to handle the training. Captains are happy with their present pay, but are still looking at a chance to transfer to widebody. FOs not too happy with the recent pay hike, educ allowance was increased for Captains but not for FOs. Makes no sense. Seems to me they want to please the Captains more than FOs. Poor lads.
8.
Fleet? There are currently 9, mostly brand new, nice and shiny A320s, with more coming this year. No major technical defects. Most delays are caused by passenger boarding and other crap but nothing to do with aircraft, so far.
9.
Rostering? No comment. They give you monthly rosters, but you can throw it after a week and expect daily changes and calls for new flight schedules.
These are my unbiased opinion about Air Arabia. I presented in the best and straightforward way I can the downsides and upsides about working, and life in general in AA, so it's all up to you to decide. If you ask me whether I'm happy here or not, well, I will just keep the answer to myself.
Goodluck to you all!