Without wanting to go into any polemic regarding our training department (Yes, they know what is wrong and where the problems lay. No they will not do anything about it due to commercial pressure) I have to agree with CR on this one...
Saying that good aviators only can be from UK/OZ or the USA is insulting and plain stupid.
I have seen the opposite as well. Remember the whole bunch of Spaniards we had here last year from Air Madrid. They all came with JAR-OPS licences and A330 TR. Well, all but two where requested to leave or where fired at this moment.
What about the Swiss guy with the fake Captains licence ...etc etc etc...
UK/OZ/USA do not have a monopoly on good professional pilots, not by far!
The part where you claim QR is handicapped due to its geographical location is unfortunately very true. Most people originating from a westerly orientated developed country will prefer AUH or DXB over DOH as a base!
The man in charge knows this very well. All he cares for is to crew the airplanes and preferably he will do this by hiring individuals with no other option available to them.
Pilots with only an ICAO licence or the wrong passports, not allowing them to live in the more civilized countries.
These pilots do not cause any troubles and he knows it very well! Unfortunately for our paying pax, these pilots are in general of a much lower level!
Lately we had a huge influx of Latin pilots as well. Same problem there. Level of English is very low, flying skills average, opportunities back home nil (lots of jobs but no money) (Generalisation --> Luckily we have seen some very good guys from that part of the world as well.)
That being said, we still have a rather large group of pilots who are really professional and they come from all over the world!
And in all honesty, I dare to say that our level of pilots on an average is not worse or better than EK or EY!
Compared to EY we are way ahead in terms of documentation, training syllabi etc...
Compared to EK we are somewhat behind but not that far. OK, we do not have the shiny training infrastructure EK has with their training centre but procedure wise, I dare to say we are on the same level. EK’s procedures are being suffocated by strange policies, all originating from their dominantly "English" approach to training and SOPs.
One thing EK and EY have going from them is the fact that they can recruit from a much larger ( and thus offering a wider choice) pilot pool.
So while these companies are saved by recruiting pilots who do not need such a large amount of training to bring them up to standards, QR has to do the opposite.
We have to recruit the leftovers, but until 6 months ago QR managed to bring these guys more or less to the desired standard by offering much more and generally better training!
Lately however, due to the training department letting of their guard and due to an increased recruitment requirement worldwide, the level of training had to be dropped in order to meet the commercial requirements!
And this now is an extremely dangerous position for QR to be in! Combining low level recruits with a lower level of training is a potential recipe for disaster!
On top of that, and this is due to some extremely flawed and poor decision making from our rather weak flight ops management, most senior FOs and Captains who have another option available to them, are leaving or thinking about leaving in the near future. No real future is offered to them by this company so who can blame them!
So this is the second ingredient for that recipe for disaster....
So unless QR does not take an 180 Degree turn in their mentality towards pilot recruitment, training and management, this company truly will see a disaster and become a refugee camp for the outcast of the pilot community!
And this goes for all levels of employment within the company! The whole company is infested by under qualified and incompetent people, many of them in important key positions! Never did they receive any training, never did the company offer them a course but still they have lots of decision power.
Just take a visit to the financial department, rostering department, HR, etc....Mostly you will find are people taking advantage of their powers but without them getting the job done. Luckily, just as in flight ops, these "bad “people and their work are being corrected by the few very competent people working in those departments as well.
And if this continues, our paying passengers should be alerted before its too late!
Last edited by shneidertrophy; 17th Dec 2007 at 04:46.