Hi all , I work for Saudia and almost retiring. Fom my personal point of view of a crewmember I CAN TELL YOU THIS: It's a petty good airline compared to others in he Middle East, but beware of misleading information ( I'm avoiding the word lie) presented by the company in its website and to hiring firms. One example of this is: If you apply for a certain advertised equipment, dont be surprised to end up on a different one, to some people this was advantageous to others unacceptable, but thats how they do it there. Seems like HR people dont speak to operations people. (Anyway they provide the training with no bond)
I guess they are hiring across the board all equipment and all postions since the latest CEO has started a policy of encouraging getting rid of high paid senior crew by not automatically renewing contracts ( as was before) and by encouraging early retirement.
Presently looking for 747-100, 747-300, 747-400 ,MD-11, 777, EJ-170 and very soon the new A-320 is arriving which will require a considerable number of crew (
Saudi Arabian Airlines orders $300M in engines | Aviation) , and a bit sooner the B-787 dreamliner is scheduled to join the fleet (
Saudia in talks over Dreamliner - Transportation - ArabianBusiness.com). The present Airbus and MD-90 are being quickly gounded and disposed of.
Although the company is being partially privatized, its still under government control which alleviates some of the global financial problems and gives some sort of job security, but nevertheless you will still suffer the Middle East style management .