If I may replay, only because I'm killing time and don't have much else to do whilst I sip my coffee.
First, I don't work for EK, nor ever have. I am an outsider to the conversation in that regard. Having said that, outside of my own home country, I have worked as a pilot in the ME as well as India, Thailand, and Europe. I had a chance to join EK 15 years ago and many of my buddies at the time did join EK or QR, EK, WY of GF. Those who used a ME carrier as a stepping stone have no regrets for leaving. But their ability to sever the umbilical to their glorified aviator positions seriously cost them overall. IOW, many are still first officers for a US carrier. I became a captain stateside 9 years ago. However, despite the disappointment in their long crawl to the left seat Stateside, none of them regret leaving the ME, not one! All generally tell me their worst day as a FO at a US carrier is better than their best day as a captain at for a ME airline. So the consensus seems pretty obvious there. What isn't as obvious is their willingness to admit that they waited too long to leave. And therein lies the trick, knowing when to leave. Obviously earlier is better than later but how many truly pull the cord early enough. I'm betting the data would point to most waiting too long for whatever reason (fulfilling their bond requirement, getting use to life in DXB or wherever, hoping things will get better at said ME airline... which, as we all know, it never really does).
I did my time in the ME to better my career experiences and prospects for a more rounded overall resume. I have no regrets and I am certain it aided my getting hired by a US Legacy carrier. But I knew when to get out. I refused to let myself get entrenched over there and I knew life, for me anyway, was about what I did outside the job, not what I did as an aviator. I left a very high paying job in the ME to return to my US regional airline job at the time in order to get back into the hiring pipeline of the US legacy carrier that I ultimately ended up flying for. In fact, that job paid so well that I recall a couple of EK captains at the time offering to trade places with me. IOW, it paid significantly more than a EK captain and still I left. I wanted to focus on a career that would give me plenty of time off to pursue my interests and passions outside of work. There are very few aviation jobs that allow this. A US Legacy carrier is one, a month-on/off rotation with a bizjet entity or a contract gig is another. For the most part, career positions with ME carriers and most Asian carriers will just not afford you the time needed to truly pursue the airline pilot lifestyle, which to me always meant plenty of time off. Sure we all love to fly jets. After nearly 27 years as a commercial pilot, I still get a kick at landing in challenging conditions or taking off from some new place. But let's all face it, after the first 90 days on a new type, it's just a job. And those who define themselves by the job itself often find themselves feeling unfulfilled.
I think it's great you're mentoring a kid. I was mentored and I keep in touch with my mentor to this day, a retired B747 captain for a US Legacy who is in his 80s now. I try to pay it forward by mentoring others who show an interest.
The problem with this kid's scenario, in terms of his expectations, is that by the time he meets EK's qualification, likely by his mid to late 20s after college and building time, he'll also be qualified to work for a US carrier. If he squanders that opportunity due to the ME lure of shiny new jets, he will pay for this dearly when he finally does return to the US. I see this quite often at my airline. I work with FOs who are a few years older than me and who have this vast experience database acquired BEFORE they joined our airline. However, because they put off returning to the US they are thousands and thousands of numbers junior to me. I feel for them, as they will never make WB captain at our airline, but we both know their predicament is due to the fact that they got hired so late in life. We all make choices.
By contrast, a colleague of mine got hired by our US Legacy carrier ULTRA-early, compared to everyone else, at age 23. He will spend the last 10 years of his career at #1, and will likely retire with around $10 million (USD) in his retirement plan due to the power of compound interest. I was hired in my mid-30s, I'll be lucky to crack $3-4 million in retirement, and I have to really save diligently to reach that number. Respectable, yes, but I'll never make it beyond the most senior 200 pilots on the list (we have over 13,000 so still not too bad) and I will spend the last 5 years of my career staring up the tailpipe of nearly 1,000 pilots in front of me as they march towards age 65 also. So while I will be senior towards the end of my career, I will never really spend too much time in that coveted position because of all the pilots in front of me. The point here being age and it's relative relation to seniority is the single most important driver in terms of a successful career measurement after airline brand. And we all know the brand we choose is a total crapshoot. IOW, you choose the carrier you wish to spend your career with; yet from there all you can do is hope they are still around when you reach retirement age.
His best use of career energy will be spent pursuing a US Legacy carrier position either through the more traditional (these days anyway) route of commercial aviation climbing or through the military. I'd only go to a ME or overseas carrier IF the plan is to use said carrier as a very short-stint stepping stone (very short) and if all other hiring options in the US were presently off the table at time of my ME carrier applicaiton. Else he might find himself bitter and pulling gear for someone half his age in his home country when he's 45.
TIFWIW.
Last edited by Geebz; 4th Feb 2017 at 23:53.