For those gathering information here when considering EK there is one thing that you need to understand to try and make sense of the comments:
Nobody has Emirates as their first choice of airline to work for.
Perhaps more strictly, nobody chooses to live in Dubai as a first choice. Nobody.
Pilots don’t go “I want to live in Dubai, who can I work for there? Hey Emirates looks good, I am going to apply to them so I can live in Dubai.” Emirates and the Middle East only becomes an option when promotion stalls in their own airline, their airline goes bust or looks like going bust, or their own country becomes too dangerous/corrupt to stay. They then look for jobs and go “What has the best on offer? Hmmmm, those Middle Eastern airlines seem to have what I want, ok, I know there will be sacrifices..... but I’ll just make them for the job.” The Emirates recruiting machine has been/is very good at painting a picture that is attractive, and so people who have had other options close jump into the smoke and mirrors that begins with the recruiting process.
The one simple fact is everybody wishes they could be living in their home country and flying for one of their country’s airlines. But for one reason or another they can’t.
So here is the point : people who move to Dubai make huge sacrifices to work for Emirates. This has been arrogantly forgotten. Make no mistake about that. Somewhere along the way, management have either started deluding themselves, or become so arrogant as to believe, that people come to Dubai for Dubai, and not Dubai for Emirates. And it just isn’t true.
Emirates had the balance correct - in the not too distant past operational staff still had a life and freedom, and thus the negatives about Dubai and the Middle East were able to be compartmentalized.
This is no longer true.
When I read comments here that people make saying “It’s not about the money, it’s about the rostering or the Annual Leave” I realise that even those here have reached the point where they have forgotten what they are doing here. They have gone into self-protection mode and are kidding themselves. Get this straight: It’s about the money. AND it’s about the rostering. AND it’s about the Annual Leave. Stop promoting the idea that it isn’t about the money. To Management it is only about the money so get it back into your head. You cannot retire in the UAE, so it is always about the money - having enough to escape with your health intact and move back to the real world.
Until the the latest part of Emirates’ gestation this has worked fine because upgrades have occurred in the 2.5 - 4 year time frame, and therefore quickly enough there has been a jump to a higher earning bracket for pilots, which has meant the package has seemed ok. The overwhelming majority of pilots found they could stick it out in the Middle East for somewhere between 7-12 years but then reached their limit. (And remember this is when the flying hours were 65-80hrs/month for the bulk of those years.) But those upgrade timeframes are no longer the case. Nor will they ever return. Emirates is now at the size of those ‘bloated, backward, neanderthal’ Legacy Carriers they like to attack, and consequently has started to see the issues associated with them. Those who have been employed in the last 18-24 months and those coming now will not see a Command for 7-10 years. Minimum.
Before people jump in and argue, “Well I wasn’t going to see Command at my airline for 20 years!” I’ll say yes, I agree! But there are 2 factors - ‘your airline’ is in your country. Don’t ever discount what that means. Secondly, Emirates doesn’t want you here longer than 7-10 years, and perhaps more accurately you won’t be capable of staying here longer than 7-10 years. So that is now a very big factor in your choice.
Why would you make the sacrifices to live in the Middle East if you are never going to get the much needed upgrade? Management (you know those people who sleep in their own beds at the same core hours every evening and are continually displaying that they have zero comprehension about shift work) have played their hand: the hours currently being flown are here to stay. And make no mistake - they are unsustainable. They are unsustainable if you want to fly safely. They are unsustainable if you are somebody who wants to live without health issues. They are unsustainable if you merely want to ‘live.’ And if you somehow fly for 7-10 years, with the ridiculous mix of short, medium & long haul flying done month in month out, 90+hrs/ month, and never having a decent AL break then you are going to have health issues. The Provident Fund* and the flying hours are geared to a pilot staying under 10 years. They don’t want you longer, they want to use you, burn you out and wave goodbye to you no later than that 10 year mark. Then go off to your country, or another, and deal with your health issues, which you are absolutely going to have. (*ie, after 10 years the P.F. jumps in company contribution and the company doesn’t want you to stick around to benefit from it.)
The current rostering practices are not, and will never afford you a healthy lifestyle. If you believe that the airline has your interests at heart take special note of their own rostering practices. There in black and white is the statement about the avoidance of scheduling rest periods of between 18 & 30 hours especially after long flights crossing many time zones. But hey, what are the overwhelming majority of rest periods - including after long flights? You guessed it! The new gem of shared rest days is not just unhealthy but fatigue inducing and will affect safety. Rostering 3 night turns and a layover in 7 days likewise. God help anyone who flies to the US up to 3 times a month (A380 pilots can) over the North Pole. You are nothing more than a guinea pig, and by the time it is realised that you are receiving too much radiation you will have left and be will suffering from the effects in your own country. Nobody does the mix of short, medium and long haul flying that Emirates does, and does it for 100 hrs per month, every month. Fatigue isn’t just something that may happen - it is something that you will live with permanently. So how much was that Command and the money really worth to you? Oh wait...you’re not getting the Command or the associated money now....
Now lets consider that precious time away from work. It is spent trying to catch up. Which you never will. So your quality time at home with your family (if you have one) is anything but quality. You will simply be too tired. Sure you will do things with your family, and you will be physically ‘there,’ but you won’t be ‘present’. It has been mentioned here before about the divorce rate in the company. I’ll say it again - how much was that Command and the money worth to you? Oh wait...you’re not getting the Command or the associated money now....
Another thing to consider as an FO for 7 years is the Staff Travel. Lets say you arrive in Dubai with Children aged 4 and 5. That will be 7 years minimum of being forced to travel in Economy because your children can’t be upgraded into Business Class. I still feel for FOs who have children approaching their teens and have to travel in Economy.......while watching a Captain with a child aged 2 being allowed into Business. Are you starting to get the mentality of the people who make policies in these here parts?
Others have spoken of the cost of living here - they speak the truth. The pathetic pay rises that have been offered the last few years - insulting to put it plainly - have been about a tenth of what inflation is running at. And here is the real kicker - you pay an obscenely inflated price for a product that is so far inferior to what is offered overseas it has to be seen to be believed. Fresh fruit and vegetables at any of the super/hypermarkets are not fresh and can never be! (If you doubt me you’ll work it out on your overnights when you eat a place where “the food was amazing!” No, it was just fresh.) They are tasteless and of incredibly poor quality, but you will pay 2x, 3x and up to 5x the price for them than you would in a first world country. Anything that is packaged and brought in from overseas is automatically doubled as a minimum in price. In the retail shops you will frequently see ‘Sales.’ Take a closer look. I still find it hysterical that they leave the original tags on clothing etc brought in from overseas. A 30-50% sale only brings the price back (after doing the conversion) to what it was originally in the home country. So how do you feel about having paid that price when there are no sales?
Now the latest golden initiative from those in management to stem the flow of people sprinting to the exit doors has arrived - the ‘Road to Command.’ An initiative brought in to keep the masses of FOs motivated and believing that Command is just around the corner. Let’s have a look at it - yep, more online learning to be done at home or in a hotel room, i.e. in your own time, which you already have very little of. It has been added to the endless list of modules that *must* be completed BEFORE any scheduled training days. They have gone that far now that EXAMS are done in your time, and not the Company’s during the Recurrent Ground School, or SEPs day etc. The list of modules for the last recurrent training (simulator for those folks not sure) was 7. That’s 7 Modules to be done in your already non existent free time, as well as studying for the simulator sessions.
So, how much was that Command and the money worth to you? Oh wait...you’re not getting the Command or the associated money now......
So I ask you this. How bad is it really in your airline or home country for you to consider signing up? If you do arrive, don’t look and feel sorry for the sub-continent workers being bussed to and from construction sites in air conditioner-lacking buses - you are the same as them, just at a different level.
I understand if you come from a crime-riddled country where you life is under threat. (It will be in Dubai too, but from the psychopathic drivers on the road, using their cars as a weapon, instead of something more traditional like a gun. And don’t be deluded into thinking it’s only the locals who drive like that - it isn’t. The Expats now more than make up a healthy percentage of people who believe it is safe to drive at 140km/h 1 foot from the car in front or swap 6 lanes in only 30m of forward movement. Oh, did you read what I wrote above - your life is also going to be under threat from the flying as well.)
I understand if you come from an airline that has gone bust. Or from a country that has imploded.
But if you are coming from a country that is stable, or an airline that is stable and you have nothing more than itchy feet, I point you back to the start: nobody moves to Emirates as a first choice. But many people are now realizing that it should never have been a second or third choice either. Is what you are doing now really worse than 7-10 years in the right hand seat, in a company that will extract every living cell from your body, in a country that will extract every dirham from you, and more?
Think hard about what you really want. The sacrifices that you will make are no longer being rewarded. Not in money, not in time off and not in your career path.
Keep Discovering. (Oh, you will.....)
Hello Tomorrow. (Hopefully. We all pray.....)
And make sure you don’t drink coffee in in uniform. (Because robots don’t need liquid or caffeine.)
“Everything is awesome, everything is cool when you’re part of the team! Everything is awesommmmmme, when you’re living the dreammmm” 