Emirates Asia Roadshow - A perspective
(Someone from EK please repost this into the M-Rats Forum)
Ladies and Gents,
The EK Road-show presentation in HKG on Saturday was an interesting exercise in listening to what was said, understanding what was not being said, and attempting to read between the two based on the facts that were presented whilst remaining “on the rails”.
Perhaps I should start with some factual information. The presenters, CN Steve Westmacott (B777) and Donna (Flt Ops HR) delivered a mixed media presentation lasting a couple of hours.
The DVD that formed a substantial part of the presentation is floating around out there. According to Steve, they’ve “left 500 of them” in Singapore, Taipei and Hong Kong in the last week. A significant number of crew and a few partners attended the presentation.
As of this past week, EK Flight Operations HR has publically stated a target of 550 new joiners for the next year. The aircraft numbers arriving into their fleet are staggering. By 2008, EK will take one new aircraft every two weeks for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, it’s clear that the career prospects are equally as staggering.
There are presently a limited number of places for direct entry commands on the B777 only. Presumably they have sufficient applications in this area to meet their current target for this group and the impression that was given was that this was a small part of the overall requirement. Initial FO entry is based on a joiner with sufficient experience to achieve a command in 3 to 5 years. A limited number of FO entries are available for an accelerated command; i.e. < less than 3 years, however no guarantees. There is however a training bond arrangement to be dealt with by successful recruits
The EK company “projection” of your future involvement with EK and the UAE reflects the general economic projection of the UAE itself; come to EK to live and work in the UAE. Basing beyond DXB has not and is not a feature of the strategic plan and there is no foreseeable change on this position.
According to the presenters, UAE economic growth currently tops the world growth list at 16% year on year. Development in DXB, visually, economically and statistically, bears testimony to this fact and EK are quite “bullish” about this fact. From an aviation perspective, the present and projected rise of the Middle-East and Asian aviation hubs is the EK cause for aggressive business plans and they intend to capitalise on this situation in a very big way.
The other side of the economic picture is a current annual inflation rate that was stated as 10% per annum. This factor is being driven largely by the cost of housing, which goes so far as to be a large driving factor in the manner in which the EK accommodation package is presently established, managed and provided to staff. Accommodation appears to be a “take what you get” arrangement because there are very few choices really available, due to cost, availability and practicality.
The presenters were a little “hair triggered” about the EK total remuneration package. I pondered as to why and surmised that the number of components that have to be considered within the total package results in an unclear picture of the deal that’s on offer; direct remuneration – salary, duty allowances, education, other assistances; indirect remuneration – accommodation free, utilities free, tax free.
The management of the current and future remuneration package at EK is set to account for inflation through planned future adjustments. It also accounts for the burgeoning demand for overseas crew by having a currency protection mechanism built into the package, acknowledging that their crew have currency issues beyond the UAE.
To be fair, the presenters laid out a balanced view of life in DXB and the UAE, outlining the clear “pluses and minuses” which are routinely discussed by ex-patriot crew around the Asia-Pacific.
Comment:
Quite clearly, analysis of the career prospects and the current remuneration offer indicate that no prospective new joiner to a HKG based airline can ignore the offer at EK. No SO or FO position on offer in HKG at present offers anywhere near the potential reward.
The situation for experienced crew is however very different. EK have just spent the last week in the backyards of substantial airlines such Singapore Airlines, Eva Airways, China Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragon Air, not to mention numerous smaller carriers. They’ve outlined that the vast majority of future recruitment will be as FOs, but what’s being offered to lever this group into an EK future is however not yet enough to compel experienced crew to commit to such a future.
http://www.emiratesgroupcareers.com/ExploreOurCareers/FlightDeckCrew/FlightDeck.asp