Qatar does it. However, it is hard to imagine anyone signing as a cadet who can potentially be on the line at age 20, looking at 15 years to upgrade due to the command age restrictions. Maybe the would need to implement a 14 year bond???
As the thread starter I would like to steer the discussion again towards... is this downward trend reversible? I am deeply pessimistic about it these days but this is what I think should be fixed:
- EK needs to start to respect the contract of employment. Denying opt-out allowance and not granting 42 days of leave to each pilot each year are blatant contractual breaches that only make the company look like an unreliable employer who will back stab you the moment they have a chance.
- EK needs to start respecting their flight and cabin crew. 24/7 essential employee services, for example. Most employees are shift workers, doesn't make sense having HR services working on reduced hours 5 days a week. Respect means to value employees (minimum) days off for bureaucratic stuff such as visa renewals, medicals, distance learning etc. All those should be rostered accordingly. Like in any decent outfit.
- EK needs to start valuing their people. The loss of experience in both flightdeck and cabin this days is an irreparable mistake. This airline used to have some of the most proficient and experienced crew in the industry. Recruiting new joiners at better conditions than current equally experienced employees is an insult.
- EK needs to listen. I had hope listening to Mueller's interviews when he was talking about the importance of listening to every single employee in the organization. This remains to be seen. Nobody has asked me my opinion and I'm too scared to share it unless behind anonymity. I have shared my concerns in previous forums (which seem to have dissappear now) but answers were always "it is above our pay grade", "this comes from above".
- EK needs a change of culture. And that's probably the hardest part. At the moment is run like a mediocre organization from the 1970s in terms of organizational culture.
I'm not saying is gonna happen, but the recipe is there in front of their eyes. Seems like the real problem is that whilst being aware of it, they just don't wanna do it.