There is no quality of life at Etihad. You can not expect any balance in your monthly rosters. The request system is a joke. Our management dont have the brains to copy a good system like the one at Emirates or cant because they are purposeffully running the fleets short of pilots to save money. The following is a typical missive:
We are anticipating a large amount of training to be completed on the A330 fleet throughout July and August. Therefore we encourage submitting A330 types of requests during this period that we will try and utilize for LFUS. We have over the past several months allowed requests for flights and days off over training in some circumstances. July and August we will require line training to clear A330 LFUS. Therefore particular July and August requests may be declined in order to complete the necessary A330 LFUS. Please avoid requests for A340, ULR, long A330 trips over 4 days in length, and augmented trips where possible.
So the most senior guys in the company cant request anything good in the summer, half of them where denied leave and the rumour is August leave will be cancelled for some as we have a danger of parked planes. Thanks for the hard work boys, here's a 500 dirham bonus. What did Emirates get?
No question here. If you come to the ME the only game in town is Emirates.