Ek,ey,qr

[CRJIDE]

I am a american captain flying for a struggling national airline near Washington D.C. I have applied to EK and EY and am considering QR. Can anyone tell me the differences in pay and quality of life issues at all three carriers? I have a family that will be coming with me if I am even considered by any of these three carriers, so some info on living conditions would also help. Thanks!

[fullforward]

There are zillions of threads on this issue around here.
Do your search and you can find out something interesting.
As from my findings, there's no significative differences among them all. EK seemingly the more "civilized" and Gulf the worst.
It's not my personal opinion, it what people say here.

But are you really sure you're considering a move to the sand pit?

Good luck!

[Flyer1015]

I think 'which carrier is better' will ALWAYS boil down to personal preferences. What are you looking for? Where do you want to live, be based? Pay, lifestyle issues, etc. etc.

EK, GF, EY, QR all hire American pilots. I believe currently, EK has the higest amount of American pilots compared to the others. That doesn't mean much though... go ahead and decide what factors matter to you most. Do you want to live in Dubai, Bahrain, Doha, etc etc. Apply to all 4 if you want.

But all four of those sure as heck beat FlyI !

My heart goes out to the poor ~700 furloughed pilots there.

[CRJIDE]

Thanks flyer 1015. Over here in the states the only one that most of us have heard about is EK. That being said the only city that I know something about is Dubai. It sounds pretty nice. I know almost nothing about the other carriers and their bases. Searching these forums are beginning help. Maybe you could shed some light for me on the other cities and compare them to Dubai. thanks!

[Flyer1015]

I'm a US citizen living here just like you, but I'll tell you what I know/picked up from the forums here.

Airline: Emirates
Pilot Base: Dubai
Emirates is growing like crazy, very profitable, and overall, seems like a good place to work. One major drawback currently is that it *seems* Emirates is hiring DECS (the direct entry captains) into left seats, which has really slowed down promoting from within. Aparently, it's cheaper to hire a DEC than to promote from within. But still, Emirates seems great.

Airline: Gulf Air
Pilot Base: Bahrain (city of Manama)
Gulf Traveller pilots: Abu Dhabi
Gulf Air is smaller in size than Emirates. They're completing their turnaround plan that the Australian CEO has implemented. Aparently, they are looking to expand their fleet, but will not come close to Emirates' size. Fleet of about 35 planes, and they want to 'double' it by 2009/2010.

Airline: Qatar Airways
Pilot Base: Doha

Don't really know much about this airline. I know that they have 2 A380s on order. No idea on pilot morale.

I've never been to the middle east. So I guess we'll have to go by what others have said. Everyone says Dubai is a very modern, westernized, nice hot place to be. Bahrain is a small country in the Persian Gulf (right folks?:) ) Again, very modern. No idea about Doha, though I'm sure it's right up there!

[flynhigh]

Dear CRJIDE

i hope Indy Air make it. But just to let you know unless you have some Widebody time EK would not Call you. you will spend the next few years in their hold pool. GF is hiring none type FO's but its long shot, most of the people in hiring Dept are Canadian or Brits they will call those people first. As far as Qatar who know i have heard people got hire with only B1900 time. only time will tell. Apply to all and see which will call first. my order would be
1.EK
2.GF
3.QR
good luck to you and all Indy pilots.

[typhoonpilot]

i hope Indy Air make it. But just to let you know unless you have some Widebody time EK would not Call you. you will spend the next few years in their hold pool.

I hope Indy makes it as well. It was my first airline, back when it was WestAir ( who started ACA ) and I still have many good friends there.

The above statement ( in quotes ) is not true. Emirates hires people with no previous widebody experience. The problem is that the majority are people who qualify for a short course. That would be people who are current on the 737NG/757/767/777/747-400 or A320/330/340. Occsionally they will hire outside of that, but it is an uphill battle as there are plenty of applicants who have experience on the qualifying types.

If you want to become competitive then get on the A320 at FlyI.


TP