Irishpilot....All are different, don't mean to make it sound like Qatar is an outcast. Most people know that overall Emirates is the best all round package.,..I am simply talking from an Etihad Pilot point of view. I know a couple of guys at Qatar, some say they enjoy it although some hate it. In saying that there have been quite a few guys jump ship from Qatar who initially tried for emirates. They didn't get in there so came to Etihad so it appears that people do want to get away. But as I say, I don't know too much about that really.
Doha is a bit of a hole, at least Dubai is a playground and Abu Dhabi is quite westernised too. Qatar recently had a massive payrise to keep existing / attract new guys (50% on sector pay and 20% on basic I think)...hopefully the others will follow. I think most will tell you to go for Emirates as it's stable, it's in profit and its been around for a while...and being around for a while means they have good roster systems, good insurance schemes and accommodation options etc...Etihad hasn't been around as long so is a bit more of a mess, but like I said previously, no one can expect perfection from an airline which is expanding so fast that it cannot get the pilots and systems in place quick enough. Etihad is a good place to be in terms of upgrade and career progression. hope this helps
