Truth About Qatar Airways Pilot Life
Here we go guys this the truth and nothing but the truth, coming from pilots from Qatar Airways that Cannot speak out about the conditions and the life style in general at this airline.
The recruitment process is frustrating and not so informative and misleading. You are not told about all the BS that goes on once you sign the contract and start the long process of training.
Housing is a mess. One day they promise a furnished accommodation and you arrive with your bags and nothing else expecting fully furnished accommodation, but what you get for the first two weeks is a hotel like suite that you must vacat within two weeks and you start the humiliating process of looking for your own accommodation with the little money they give you, that is not enough for a two bedroom flat, in not so nice area. You get frustrated but you have no choice you decide to pay out of your salary and get something somewhat acceptable but again all on your own with no help from the company what so ever. If you decide to rent unfurnished then you must put up all the cost of not only the furniture but also appliances because most places will have nothing in appliance other than A/C.
You get that part done and then you start the long process of getting all the paper work done. Residence permit process is humiliating to say the least. You are treated like cattle in this process for medical tests and so on.
Done now company training starts with a sporatic schedule of classes at different locations every time and sometimes you arrive at your scheduled class only to find there is no class. And this process can drag on for months, and when you think you are finally done they tell you oh we forgot you must do such and such class and they blame you for not telling or reminding them that you where required to take the class as if it's a process you are expected to know.
Sim training when you finally get to it is somewhat more predictable but as you will shortly find out the process is not what you call training but rather a process of testing and checking.
Line training is not much different in theory to sim "training" but rather testing and a bunch of distracting questions throughout the flight that your brain is unable to concentrate on learning anything. When you finally get done with that frustrating process where sometimes you show up to your scheduled flight only to find out that you where scheduled on the wrong fleet of airplanes, and sometimes double booking of training crew is not uncommon. When you finish and start flying the line you actually are flying with a Captain that is worried about getting fired at every moment of the flight for any reason. So because everyone is on edge you end up pushing that auto pilot button as soon as you are legally able to, that is 400ft and you can think about disconnecting it shortly before touchdown and only then you become a taxi driver taxing the airplane to the gate. If you are lucky your stand is a short bus ride to the terminal where you have to catch another bus or van and risk your life to get to your car in a remote parking behind the healthy fast food restaurant. Otherwise you could be at the other end of the airport where after waiting for the cabin crew to clean and tidy the airplane for at least 20-30 minutes then your ride back could take another 20-30 minutes and you finally arrive home after navigating through the roads that is full of construction and work in progress and after trying to avoid getting killed by the crazy drivers with big SUVs. You arrive home nervous as hell almost ready to kill your self, only to realize report time with minimum rest will start agin and you go through the process again only this time with another nervous Captain.
Kids school is another long story, learn to beg for a slot for your kids in a school where education is mediocre to say the least, and where you have to pay a big chunk out of pocket to cover the rip off tuition cost. Teachers don't care if the kids learn because they are not here to make a difference but only to get the paycheck.
Frustration in every aspect of life. You accept a position of first officer with two strips inspite of ones difference in experience. Some will have little or no experience and but still start at the same level. To upgrade you must interview again and go through a process that is far more complicated and unjust than someone coming as DEC without even being typed in the A/C where they will be hired and you end up being an underpaid line instructor to the new Captain that is not only lost in the region but also in the aircraft.
If you are thinking about a job here think again and do your home work. After this experience I can say I am willing to go back to my country and work any job at least I know I will not lose my pride in the process.
Good luck to all of us....