EK Interview

[balsam]

Hello all. any EK F/O can please give me some answers ,
besides the 17000DHS, how much more will i be making a month. time away or meal allowance. what's the total will come to for A330 or A340. i got an interview next month . wanna know if it's worth it , thanks all.

[SecurID]

How much more will you be making? :D That's it mate, Dhs17,000 all in! Do not expect any change from your meal allowances, they are not really sufficient to pay for the trip, if you want to have fun, but do just cover your meals whilst away.

Do not expect to save anything if you have children, do not expect the provident fund to be a retirement vehicle and do not expect a command sooner than seven years.

[616200]

SecureId what r u talking about?1700Dhs only?
U maybe didn't get the 8 percent increase?
Please check with payroll dept..Somebody is screwing your pay...

[Scooter Rassmussin]

Well I can only raise 16000 DHS a month ,no o/time.
Commands are only on 777, probably 4-5 years. There will still be 8 and 9 year F/os on the bus then, If you can handle this go for it or look long and hard at your present job it may not be that bad.
EK should be a good airline but at the moment its quite poor for F/os, I can only hope things change soon , i am actively seeking employment elsewhere..............

:sad:

[etops777]

Command on the 777 could be more then 4-5 years now. By April of 2006, EK will be short of qualified and suitable FOs(means FO that has 3 years in the company). So, EK will start recruiting DECs on to 777 and it definitely will further slow down the upgrade on the Boeing, maybe into 7 or more years.:(

[balsam]

hello all and thanks for the ones who answered my questions.
but is 18300 DHS all what the f/o makes. what about the food out stations also do they subtract the 12% out of my salary or they add 12% of the 18300DHS and put it in my provedant funds.

thanks

[pintofstella]

does it really sound that bad. what else do you want... my 3 wives and my 2 camals. almost forgot, mmi special, 6 bottles of nice sa white for 15 quid.....

[balsam]

thank u guys for the info.

Mr contacted. thank much for the details.
safe flying all

[MR8]

Contacted, some 'corrections':

Accomodations allowance is hard to start with, coming to Dubai and you have to rent something on a very short notice is not easy. Once you take company accomodation,it might take a while before the company let's you move out of it to take the allowance, while you have to pay for the house you bought, or the rental agreement you might sign...

Productivity Payments.. you will have to go over 78 Scheduled Block hours per month, no credit for reserve, sim, annual leave. So you can fly 72 hours, have 10 days of annual leave and do your PPC in the same month, but still you're not rewarded for being productive.

Annual profit share: the company has to reach a threshold which is quite high before any profit shares are paid for. Last years have been 10 weeks and 4 weeks, but that were in years with huge expansions, what about in a few years when the expansion is slower?

Layover Allowances are just not enough, unless you plan on staying in your room with your pot noodles. 90% of layovers I have to use my credit card to get the bill settled. Ok, I never stay in my room, I always go out of the hotel and have a meal and some beers. But then agian, became pilot to see the world and enjoy being somewhere..

ERP: The exchange rate protection is a load of B*LL. It is limited to a certain percentage, and will only be paid if if the current exchange rate is below the average of the previous X years. I get paid for the low dollar now, but since the dollar is quite low for some time now, the avarage over the previous X years will come down as well, and soon the two will meet eachother, and then you can say bye bye ERP... Just some sand in the eyes, an insurance which isn't one..

3% is contractual (for what a contract is worth for EK) and is annual, but is far away from inflation, so in real life, your salary goes down...

Payrises.. we got 8% last year, rumours are another payrise is coming, but that's food for another topic..

Conclussion: on paper, your benefits are completely correct, but in the real Dubai, things just work a little bit different....

[BigGeordie]

And remember there is a deduction for your wife and kids health insurance, which is compulsory even if your wife already has health insurance through her job.

[SPOILERS]

People have said it many times on this site do NOT join EK if you are currently with a half decent airline.
I did not believe what i read on these forums but now 2 years down the line this is the biggest mistake i have ever made in my life. I would give my right arm to go back to my old airline with my old seniority number but that is not possible so i am now looking at working for a low cost carrier in Europe not a nice thought but anything has to be better than working for these people.
When you have your interview make sure you ask the following:

1. Are you going to hire any more DEC's in the next 2 years if so why. ( you will be given an answer along the lines of only if it is operationally necessary which is crap but thats another story)
2. Why do you not allow transition upgrades.
3. Why do i need permission to leave Dubai on my days off.
4. Why do the allowances keep going down.
5. Where will i live or are you going to stick me out in the dessert with 600 pilots.
6. Why is morale so low.
7. If i am type rated will my bond be reduced or is it only DEC's that have a lower bond.
8. Are you planning to change the contract again soon if so in what way.
9. Do you plan to change the current reporting culture that exists.
10. Do you plan to allow pilots to work 135 hours a month again.

There are many more questions to be asked perhaps other people can add ones they would like answered and you can post them after your interview.
Good luck
p.s if you get a rejection count your lucky stars i wish i had.

[max AB]

It should be mentioned that not all nationalities actually get Echange Rate Protection (ERP). So don't moan too much about it...

[flybystring]

Contracted

No change to your contract is a little bit dubious. Previously all Sim, reserve and leave was given a credit allowance. That scheme was removed, which allowed an 8% pay rise to be financially neutral to the company. That was admitted by our management. Don't need a contractual argument a local lawyer has already confirmed it forms part of my written contract.

In other words over the pilot population you earned over 8% in productivity pay which was taken away and then given to you in a pay rise, while the vast population of pencil pushers, EK has thousands more than the average airline, got 8% just for sitting around.

EK lie through their teeth. Most of the recruitment team resigned when they were told they would not get paid for it. Most of what is left are the ,if I kiss my bosses arse often enough I might get a management job variety. Consequently they will tell you what they are told to.

1 Do not be afraid of asking questions
2 Do not be afraid of demanding the type you want
3 Do not be afraid of asking for clarifications in writing and having them attached to your employment contract.
4 Insist your contract is also able to be disputed in your home country law or a country with non corrupt courts where EK have an operating base.

EK are in trouble, they will spin you any old line to make it sound like competition is fierce, but now they need you more than you need them. Even if this is a really positive move for you stand your ground.

It is not the worst job in the world and some aspects are very good, but be warned it is going downhill very, very fast.

[Cerberus]

The 3% is contractural - 'Based on individual performance, increase within the scale may be awarded' - read the HR guff and as long as you have a satisfactory Perf Review, you get it!

As to what is contractural and what is not, the contract states - 'The employment regulations form part of your contract'. So all those little changes.....

Hope that helps,

Cerberus

[brigadoon]

Great, I feel really positive about joining !!!!!!

So should I celebrate or cry in my beer ?:ooh:

[SecurID]

So can some HR guy please tell me, do I have a contract or not? Are the arbitrary employment regulation changes part of my originally signed contract? If the employment regs suddenly say that I am no longer going to be paid during Ramadan, will that form part of my 'Contract'? i.e. Is the 'Contract' really not worth the paper it is written on?

Come on Rick and John, we know you read this!

[SPOILERS]

brigadoon i would celebrate if i were you you will have plenty of time to cry into your beer when you get to Dubai.

[Vorsicht]

I agree, celebrate now. Because if you arrive and your name is on an airbus course, you wont feel like hittin the town, except maybe to cry in your beer.

[brigadoon]

Vorsicht

What makes you think it is the Airbus ?:hmm:

[Zomp]

Brigadoon,
even if you are on the 777 you will cry in your beer, EK is so short of crew due expansion and lots of resignations they have to go for DEC on the 777 too.
2 of my mates have already and interview for a DEC on 777.

[MR8]

Zomp,

Can you confirm that 2 of your friends have an interview as DEC B777?
I think that's a load of BS.. As for now, NO DEC's except for A310 fleet (and even that's to much..)

Spoke with a guy of training, and apparently, transition upgrades are on the table...

I think 2 of your mates have an interview, and they hope/expect they can come as DEC, but for now, don't think so.. accelerated command, yes, possible..

MR8

[330 Man]

Zomp,

"EK is so short of crew due expansion and lots of resignations they have to go for DEC on the 777 too."

NOT TRUE AT ALL!
Ek does not have to go for DEC's on the 777 or any other fleet. EK CHOOSES to use DEC's and overlooks all of the qualified First Officers who could upgrade on either fleet. As noted on many other threads, there are many F/O's with far better qualifications than many of the DEC's previously hired.

As for your 2 mates, I can tell you that as of 3 days ago there had been no assessments for DEC's other than the 310 fleet. Obviously that will change next year, but recruitment says they are not doing any assessments for the Boeing at this time.

regards,

330 man

[EZGOEK330FO]

Since I have resigned and I am currently serving my notice I have not participated in the recent debates regarding Emirates T&Cs and the way forward. For all of those who want to come and see for themselves how it is here in the sandpit I say come and join. Nothing that we can say will convince you either way. If you believe that it is a great move for you, you will tend to read and believe the positive stories, and if you tend to believe that you should not come then you will believe the bad stories. All I can say is that Emirates is just another job in a different place with different problems and with different things to offer. The truth is that we make it what it is, based on our individual circumstances. I have enjoyed my flying here and there are a great bunch of guys flying the line from all walks of life, and from all parts of the world. There are those who do not have the chance to go back home and work in their home country, nor do they have the ability to move to better places either because their licence or their passport does not allow them. There are those who like flying the big shinny machines and love the commotion and expansion. There are others who love the way Dubai works and plays and then there are those who realy do not like it but for reasons beyond their control they cannot move at present. The only thing that all do say and all do agree is that eventualy they all want to leave, be that ten years or ten days. All will also agree that although we are expanding we are in decline. Emirates is not what it used to be, both for its employees and for its customers. The workers can see it but management cannot.
Our terms and conditions are in a constant decline and besides the increase in the meal allowance we just got in Casablanca :D :D :D I have not witnessed an increase in anything while I have been here. Some of you will say that world wide the industry is in decline, and I will agree with that statement in principal but then we must see that most of the airlines are losing money. We are not losing money, we are in an expansion mode with record profits, yet management still keeps cutting in to our T&Cs so one has to wonder what are they going to do when they stop needing us, or if Emirates starts losing money. The pilot shortage will never be felt here because Emirates can, is, and will recruit people to fill their pilot seats from any country that issues a licence. At present we are recruiting pilots from areas that salaries are much lower than here. They will continue to do that because they can. Does anyone think that management will give us an increase when they do not need to, and when they are achieving their end goal which is to hire pilots to fly their airplanes? Emirates had their chance to make things right this year when the government gave everyone a 15% increase in salary and we got an 8% plus the increament. They did not and in my view will not address the main issues of its pilot and cabin crew workforce because they do not care any more about the long term they are managing the short term....
The rumours that go around about a possible increase in July(nothing announced) or August or in September or by the end of the year, is just that, rumours, and it helps those of us on the line who cannot see the bottom line of the company, keep hoping about better days in the near or longer future.
DECs or not, the question you should be asking yourself is, is this move better for you either money, security or career wise. If it is, come and join use the time here as a way to get you where you want to be in five or in ten years from now. If it is not, believe me the grass is never as green as it looks from the other side of the fence.
I will be having my go-away party in September and once it is organized I will be letting you know so you can come and have a few pints down the pub.....