Saudi Arabian Cabin Crew?

[fly_guy100]

I just wanna know if there are any Saudi Arabian cabin crew on this board of if anyone know's anything about working for them? What are the requirements for male cabin crew to get in? Thanx!

[Left Wing]

Try Air Atlanta Jedda base grt bunch of guys dont know the Terms.

[DELTABOY]

Air Atlanta Icelandic JED base is a bit unstable, sometimes its open & other times they pull the plug on it & shut it down for a while. Obviously during the Hadj period it becomes very busy with a large requirement to operate both SV hadj & some schedule services. I warn you though, if its Rose Village they still stay at then take lots of good books & music....when i was there it was like spending 3 months in Tenko!
The flying is fun & can be really interesting & you must be very open minded with the crews you work alongside, i found myself incharge as a flight supervisor with a mixed crew of Icelandic's, Tunisians, Indians, Indonesians, Spanish & Swedish & they don't always get on too well together, can get a bit lonely if your the token Brit onboard.
From my knowledge when checking In at the SV crew centre in JED, the male cabin crew were nearly all Arabic or you had to speak fluent Arabic to get in, obviously this was different for the females who were a real mixture including English & Irish. May be things have changed. SV also used to have bases in LHR, JFK, BOM, BGK, but i think these have all closed down now. Not sure if I would want to be based as a westerner in Saudi at the moment with the terrorist activity & hatred towards the Americans & Brits.

[fly_guy100]

Awww man, you have to speak Arabic for males?!?:( Does anyone know if that policy changed??? Where are flight crews based at and which base is the most junior? Is it true that males take over on int'l flights? How long do layovers usually range from? Thanx everyone!

[Earl]

Spoke with someone from cabin crew today at work.
The last male expat cabin crew member left almost 2 years ago.
They have gone with the full Saudiazation program regarding male cabin crew.
It is one achievement that the airline is proud of.
It was even in the paper that they will begin to let the female Saudis train as cabin crew soon.
Since so many Saudis are out of work they have to replace most expats with the locals in all areas.
Only if the cannot find them locally then they are allowed to hire from the outside.
Even in the cockpit not many expats left here.

[DELTABOY]

Can you not contact the SV offices in NYC or check out the website for info on recruitment. Spoke to a friend of mine who used to be a F/A with SV five years ago based in LHR & JED, she is certain they have never taken western males on as cabin crew & would imagine that this situation has not changed since, & yes female F/A rarley operate as supervisors. To be honest with you I really wouldn't waste your time with this lot, go for Emirates, Qatar, Etihad or Kuwait, as far as I know they all recruit western males or certainly used to. Kuwait Airways took on quite a few Irish guys a while back & anywhere has gotta be better than living in the strange, restricting regime of Saudi Arabia. Good Luck buddy:ok:

[Earl]

Just spoke with a Middle East cabin crew instrutor here.
Male cabin crew hiring is forbidden here now.
All Saudis for this gender.
Not one left in the expat area for almost 2 years.
We even have problems in the cockpit hiring as the visas are almost impossible to get now due to saudiazation.
Sorry not trying to sound negative, but these days are gone.
If you are here then you can stay, but once you leave a Saudi has to replace you.
Cant really blame them as the locals are capable of doing this job.
We have had several Captain positions open also and they always have a visa problem.
The Saudia office for hiring in the USA is in Houston Texas, not NYC.
And has been for over 20 years.
This is the HR department.

[fly_guy100]

All this is very interesting to me. Thank you all for your replies, I really appreciate it. I'm extremely attracted to airlines in the middle east and Emirates I will work for one day once I reach 21. How about Kuwait Airways, anyone know how they are to fly for?

Sorry, I forgot to ask how often does Kuwait Airways hire crew. I saw their fleet info on their website and it doesn\'t seem that they need a lot of crew. Are they ordering new aircraft?

[fourplay]

Fly_guy,

I tried to get into SV whilst doing a contract with them in 1997/98 through QR.
It was so difficult to get anywhere.
I found they would not hire non arab ex-pat males.
Only way was like others have said Air Atlanta contract yet it is seasonal and poor salary and conditions.
Myself and several friends have just got into EY out of AUH.
We start in July 05
I can highly recommend EY, We know people there that are loving it.
Lots of room for advancement.
See the thread on EY I started here months ago, lots of info there.

Apply online... www.etihadairways.com

PM me if you like.