At the moment, they are overcrewed, so the last thing I heard was that they were only recruiting small numbers of staff from certain areas of the world... and no training till maybe september. The trainers all went back flying again, due to not being needed and as there is an excess of staff, the rostas now include a lot of standbys/availables which generally turn into off days, not much work!!!... and as pay is based on work days, not much money in the pay packet... I had to leave as it was just not financially viable for me to stay...
A little advice to all those who are thinking of joining the company - really do think about it and find out as much as you can. For me, it was a huge career mistake (very experienced crew member, goes to abu dhabi for promised promotion and then on training is told going to be junior crew as structures have changed) and its left me in debt as I've had to wait 6 awful months (bond) to get out!
Things are very different to what you get told in the interview, so please research - to be honest I never met so many unhappy crew in all my flying career. The staff turnover is very high, unsurprisingly, which is why they always seem to be recruiting, some just run away, some wait for the 6 months bond to be up (or you have to pay back for training/accomodation etc) others wait to leave as they have no other work in their home country. To be honest, if you've never flown before, not lived away from home etc, sure, you'll be fine and you may actually enjoy it! And its flying experience for the CV... However, from my and fellow colleagues experience, if you are over 30, having all your freedom taken away and being spoken to constantly like children, was just a bit too much. If you've flown before, you will find the briefings horrific, the teamwork non existent, the safety questionable and probably wonder why you ever went there. If you have any committments, again think about it, its very difficult to deal with things happening at home when you are stuck in the desert!
Other things I wish I'd known? Most flights are nightflights, so get used to working all night, sleeping all day... Rosta didn't change much, LHR, FRA, MUC, every month...definetly not 5 star airline ( nearer 2 star based on quality and service) and passenger profile - unexpected and interesting!
The good thing thats come out of it, is that I've made some good friends from different corners of the world and they are what get you through.
So, if you need the flying experience or just need a job - go for it and try your best, theres nothing to lose! If you are experienced crew and a bit older, please really think about it... try and speak to crew already there.
Wishing you all well in your future careers!