ET
Went there for assessment late last Summer. Same old Third World stuff....paint peeling off the Walls, Water Taps in the Bathroom were partially functional and no hand tissue or towels in the men's room. The hand dryers did not function as well. But my favorite was when I was in the lunch / waiting room for my sim assessment and a local chap offers me a drink of water. I did not notice any water fountain earlier and was somewhat puzzled as to where he was getting the water he had just offered me. Out of curiosity alone I accepted and watched in amazement as he open the second floor window, leaned out and there was a water tap hanging in mid-air that had been attached to the exterior wall, some 12 meters up. Guess it was easier than re-plumbing, but who knows where it came from.
ET appears to have massive growth plans and their in-house academy can not keep up with the growth. So expats are in the plan until they get a check on their growth. Had the opportunity to stay and extra day (at my own expense) and went to the area where many of the expat pilots are. Quite a few stories to be heard, some where obviously lubed-up due to the excessive consumption of the local brew. But all the guys I spoke with were unhappy about the way they are treated and are quite keen on the expat pilot market. Quite a few expats have left, so the salary has been structured so any expat that bails out will forfeit a months pay plus two months overtime pay. More than a few had trouble with collecting the salary deposits and allowances.
All said the training was substandard compared to their previously company and the Airline SOP's are not well presented, as well as a lack of continuity in flowing together conceptually. I had the chance to peruse over them and agreed with their assessment. Appeared to me as pages were missing, but when checking, the page numbers were consecutive.
Their comments on line training were as equally appalling. General lack on communicative skills, bizarre events, and home-made procedures that the line training guy felt was his contribution.
General synopsis I came away with was run away fast, so i did. All in all, an experience to forget. There are far to many other expat gigs out there to stay in ET.
Last edited by ObiWon; 29th Nov 2010 at 09:42.