Yes I do like it here and have posted such on many occasions. I am not at all trying to discourage others from joining EK. I just think everyone should know the facts. Why is it that every single pilot I have asked has responded that they don't know if the Accelerated Command or DEC policy is in effect? At the least it demonstrates poor communication and at the very worst it is intentionally deceptive.
By the way, I am one of the few who has not slagged DEC's simple because they are DEC's. The program was a mistake though.
In the past 6 years EK has not required DEC's although they told us otherwise when the A343's arrived on short notice. At that time there were many F/O's capable of upgrade and there was a huge pool (in the several thousands) of potential recruits. It was a cost saving measure that has backfired because now there is no pool of thousands of excellent candidates. Are you actually questioning the decrease in suitable applicants following the instituting of the DEC policy? That is common knowledge, although I think it has finally started to improve a little.......... in large part due to the perception, if not reality, that the DEC policy is no longer in effect!
Many years ago EK got DEC's because there was no other way to crew the aircraft at the time but there is now no reason other than poor management for this policy to be in place. They knew the growth projections, so why wasn't a natural command upgrade from F/O to Captain the only means to become a Captain at EK?
In addition to slashing the waiting list of suitable candidates from 5000 or so, to an all time low of under 200, the DEC policy caused many to leave EK. Out of all the individuals I personally know who have left EK in the past few years, ALL were disgusted by the policy and for the F/O's it was the single most important factor in their decision to leave.
There must be someone out there is cyberspace who can shed some light on this topic. Are the Accelerated Command and DEC policies in effect??
Watch the recruiting ranks soar if the company comes out and emphatically states that the DEC policy is no longer in effect and will not be utilized for a set out time frame. There are tons of qualified F/O's already at EK, why not use them and bring in a continual stream of suitable pilots to follow a natural progression to Captain.
This is a great job in spite of some things that people don't like such as the city itself, traffic and a general lack straight forward policy on issues that are important to pilots. There is nothing more disconcerting to a pilot than not being told what is expected of him and what he should realistically expect in return.