NA,
I stick around for reasons number one and number two, plus my family is fairly happy at the moment.
For those who consider applying in a near future here are some facts you should be aware of:
-the more family members joining you in Doha, the lower your pay check is going to be at the end of the month, that's obvious I agree. QR does not make a clear distinction of your social status. You come here as an FO on your own and you'll put quite a bit more money in a bank than a Captain with kids going to school. Emirates caters to that (I know, Emirates again), but not QR.
- your bank account goes down to about zero when the number of children going to school is 3 or more.
- here with a family you'll need eventually two vehicules and a good 4x4 is expensive. (My wife reminds me everyday on how nice it would be to go to the desert with our friends once in a while, and so on......sorry cannot afford it.
- you will need to fly your family back home a couple of times of year, whether you like it or not (they'll need it), and the airline pays for one ticket only per year of service.
But don't get me wrong, it's worth coming here. Everything is expensive here but the place is a good place specially if you have kids. If you're not working at the moment, it's worth the try. Good bunch of people all around.
The airline is OK too, as far as I am concerned. Everything takes longer that one is used to, but eh just don't fight it, that's all. Yes I know we have this very controversal CEO of ours, who worries more about us wearing our uniform hats than us being happy and getting paid enough. Here they figure it's cheaper to have people employed for a year or so, then to replace them with fresh lemons that they have to train from scratch and so on, and so on...........than to pay a bit more and have experienced people around longer and save on continious training and whatever burden and stress and incovenience that impose on running the airline in general....but he is the CEO and the Sheikh knows everything he does and approves it I guess. They must know something we don't. Mr. Al Baker, if you want to save a bit of money and make quite a few of us happy, let's drop the hat from the uniform. This is something of the past, and we ain't no military operation. Your way of doing things is a one way affair, please show that you care a bit. Don't make a big hassle out of minor cases, your employees do it for you on a regular basis.
That being said, don't miss out on the opportunity if they offer it to you. I hope I did not sound too negative, I was only trying to be realistic. See you in Doha.
Cheers!!