I heard THY is in deep troubles in crewing its aircraft and I'm not surprised. The self serving and utilitarian attitude has been uncovered and its quite righteously hitting back on their stubborn heads like a boomerang. G4FORCE..mate stop lying. THY has been lying on contract duration , license requirement, career opportunities and so on for years now. I still have friends there , some more than 5 years on narrow body and no one has been moved to long haul if not a few with previous long haul experience and just to make it possible for the new chief pilot ( a Turkish DEC) to move himself. Expat FO at the contrary have been apparently sent to the back of the seniority list with no explanations to make space for the sons of the heroic local "hocam" in what, if true, can be defined as a demonstration of the real attitude of this people that has no definition.
No FO has been upgraded and there are just rumors about it. Still I really would not like to be in the shoes of any expat in an upgrade course there, most probably a nightmare seen the evident general xenophobic attitude.. imagine TRIs now "even" having to promote a " yabancy"....
For the rest all information are available here. THY remains a good option for young P2F kids unexperienced furloughed youngsters ( not really what the company needs seen the appalling professional level and the possibility the otto- manic dream being suddenly interrupted by a further accident.. God wish not ! ) people that failed screening with EK and EY ect, for CPT coming from some shady/secondary outfits, for retired long haul captains ( they got the best deal with housing provided) looking for some extra money in a forgiving environment , other desperate individuals and even sometimes, I heard from some friends ,for fake pilots. The comparison with EK makes me laugh. First of all with a strong dollar EK salary have skyrocketed and now a captains package is close to 2000000 Euro ( with one kid) and for a senior first officer ( this how they call "co pilots" there) 140000. This against 70000 euro and 40000 euro all included in THY once deducted your living expenses in Turkey. The professional environment in not comparable. Many THY " hocams" ( meaning "master" how the local co- pilots ( well they deserve to be called like that most of the time) address the Kaptain.. ) would not be anywhere near an airplane in EK. Than add 42 days of leave ( against 20) no deduction on sick leave ( THY cuts your salary) real staff travel benefit and so on... Dubai is not really the best place on hearth but if you think Istanbul is better think twice. Beside you will be left on your own and close to no one speaks English
THY will eventually get rid of all expat. A quota system has already been approved and implemented in all other smaller carriers ( max 10% expat) leading to termination of contracts. THY is just temporarily exempted and remember your contract is permanent but your work permit is not.
The mix of arrogance, incompetence, retrograde management, non existent FTL and resulting "suicide" rosters on short haul fleet, and the risk THY is taking in crewing its planes makes it a time bomb you want to stay well clear ..if in anyway possible.