Same old, same old......
Allison - Hoe gaan dit?
Simple answer. If you have options in QR, EK, EY and have two children. DO NOT even think about FZ. You may be, "worked to death" in the other firms but at least your family will have decent healthcare, education, money and security. FZ is now a place where you would only go given no choice. If you have choices go elsewhere!
I can guarantee you one thing if you choose FZ the you choose to be a second class citizen in UAE aviation!
Too much - You know where I am! And you know you are going to follow! China longhaul! Do I miss anything, yes most of the great crew, EPC/APC functions, brunches, huge amount of on tap aircrews to party with them and thier families, on the other hand I don't miss :
Decreasing relative pay, NCC, American Mgt, CPs PA cum deity's attitude to pilots, huge standard level differences between instructors, lack of standardization, lack of application of procedures, car parking scenario, being a 2nd class citizen to EK, my family not being important, Dubai's numerous quirks (RTA, visa process, knowledge fees, treatment of workers, banks, du, etisalat, DEWA, the low standard of every single service in Dubai in all the places I just mentioned, the general frustration of simple day to day tasks)
The reality was when I was taking bucket loads of cash I didn't mind a commensurate amount of crap as I took it as par for the course. However as the cash stood still and the outgoings grew it did not stay commensurate. Now I get a larger bucket full of cash 20/10 comute to my happy family at home and all the local bull**** is done for me by the airline. Yes I still had to stand around for hours in police stations, civial avaition and jump through hoops but the hoops are well catered and not school yard level, most importatnly my family aren't subjected to it.
It feels as if I graduated to the real world and cannot believe I ever let Dubai make me think I was where I should be for my family and future when you can have it all if you commute. Good pay, good roster, long haul, great planes, great engineering, OCC who listen to the pilot first and get their postion as advisors not tellers. I never have to argue about fuel, weather options inflight contingency, I have a rigid SOP which every pilot follows to the letter, no interpretation, just by the book every time.
I simply cannot believe that any pilot, with a choice, would now that FZ has matured choose it over the ME Big 3. Yes they whinge on EK pages too but that is mostly because they do not know how good they have it! The reality is that my life was heavly intertwined with both airlines when I was in DXB. In fact I had more friends in EK than FZ and there is simply no reason to stay in FZ if EK is an option.
For those who cite quick command, yep I thought that and that was my main driver in FZ over QR, EY which i had as options when I joined FZ but even that makes no difference in the long run.
At the end of the day unless you are a high hour FO who wants a quick command to take and run away as a DEC to China or somewhere similar there is very very little gain if none in FZ. It simply isnt worth what comes with it.
Too much, high energy, lostint2, transport jock, dubaigong, GSXTY, Old King Coal, Randy BMC have enough stories to make your toes curl! In fact if we got together and wrote a book it would for sure become a Hollywood epic. I remember a very very good conversation with RandyBMC in person in 2012 about the future of FZ considering he was an instructor and how they treated him which caused him to finally take his leave what he said to me could not have been more prophetic.
I wish I had listened to him tell it how it was then and left for an opportunity that I have now ended up, as if full circle, in anyway! Suffice to say that is life. If only someone like RandyBMC was in the big seat rather than the incompetent idiot JV then then perhaps one more crew would be alive and the airline would not be in freefall. But hey that's just my view! And I have voted with my feet. In fact we are now days away from the anniversary of my resignation and FZ is becoming that bad dream that you arent sure if it was true or not.
Get yourselves to China chaps at least come and look, you will be pleasantyl surprised!