Are there ANY happy crew out there ?

[Bishops_Finger]

I'm currently looking at overseas airline opportunities and I have a couple of interviews coming up.

I've been looking at the various forums to get a feel for what the culture is like in different companies.

There's an amazing amount of negativity in the posts...so few people seem to be happy..I guess that's all part of the forums - to have a good vent - BUT recognising that life's a compromise and nothing is perfect, is anyone reasonably happy with their balance of work/employer/standard of living..... let me know who you're with if you are......

I'm particularly interested in reponses from the Middle East and Asia.

Cheers,
Bishop.

[chrispatrickGA]

Yes , I am personnally HAPPY in GULF AIR.Ok , things can be improved but good persective very soon, salary is ok and constantly increasing, still small company then very good atmosphare among the crew, and in the next future a lot of upgrades...
You live on an island, quite small, but yo take an ID 90 and see the world once you are fed up and want to change...

I repeat and I confirm people are very nice in Gulf Air...That s not the case in other companies..

[ironbutt57]

And down here in the UAE at the senior B767 base, we have much to keep us busy....

[Global Nomad]

Middle East Threads on Emirates need to have an attached caution worded along the lines of

"A true representation of conditions in Emirates cannot be gained from these threads alone due to the low sample rate of contributors"

The majority of posts come from the same contributors, possibly operating under more than one pseudonym. Make an intelligent decision with authentic and verified information before you make any decision to come here or not.

I enjoy my position at Emirates, but I always keep an eye open for other options though.

[violate]

RTFQ (read the f'ng question) GN
Are there ANY happy crew out there ?
You are not crew, never have been never will be
The question was not are there any happy managers out there!

[Scooter Rassmussin]

How can we organise a poll (separate ones for EK EY QR GF),
for:

1 pilots leaving in next 12 months (no matter what)

2 Pilots leaving when they secure a new job

3 Pilots happy to stay for full career.:ok:

[Global Nomad]

Bishop,

I rest my case.

There was nothing authentic or verified about Violets last post. Neither was it construcitve or helpful to your valid query.

[Cerberus]

GN,

I am generally happy with my lot in Dubai but have concerns about the direction in which things are heading in the future based upon recent changes. Rudeness aside which cannot be condoned; was Mr Violate right in asserting that you are not crew? If that is the case, your statement:

A true representation of conditions in Emirates cannot be gained from these threads alone due to the low sample rate of contributors

Could be thrown back in your face as:

It is impossible to get a true representation of CREW conditions in Emirates from these threads alone due to the low sample rate of contributors or more importantly management interference.

I have no idea whether you are management. If so though I do know that your perspective (good or bad) will be totally different to line operating crews. Your times of work, access to leave, renumeration, time with family, level of fatigue and perception of contractural changes will be different. Etc Etc Etc good or bad.

However, surely it is far more legitimate for a small group of actual workers to express their actual concerns than for one manager to state his belief that the silent majority must be happy bacause they have better things to do than to spend all day on Pprune. It smacks of the house of Babel and that famous tree full of monkeys.

Cerberus

[Global Nomad]

Cerberus,

A polite post with an honest question deserves an honest answer.

The answer is no, I am not management. But there will be those in denial with that answer I am sure.

Note that my reference to low sample rates does not specify positive or negative contributors. I wanted to make the point to those looking at prune as a source of information for employment prospects, to tread carefully.

[SecurID]

GN, you do appear to be have the skill of a true politician in that you do not answer the question directly, or as asked.

Cerberus, in his polite post, questioned if you are indeed a member of (flight) crew, not whether you are management.

So, in my endeavour to extradite the facts, may I please ask, are you a pilot? If so, are you a Captain or a First Officer. On which fleet do you operate? I believe that you are trying to level the playing field here with regards to the positive and negative posts, but those who are happy tend not to post.

Hang on, wait a minute! Yes they do! 5 years ago, this forum was crammed full of positive things and the guys were having a laugh! Where have they all gone? The chaps had a fine time trying to convince 411A that things were not as bad as he envisaged and that things were not, dare I say it, as stereotypical as his views of the Middle East and the way in which companies are run. Now those same chaps are probably quietly agreeing with that crusty old Yank.

So, once again and for clarity's sake, GN, are you a Pilot? If so, in which seat do you sit and on what fleet.

Why is it important? Well, it puts a whole different perspective on your posts when you know from what experience level they come from. It is all very well, for example, for Chris Peet to sit and say that we are not fatigued because we have a fatigue model and a good rostering system in place. Let's see him try it for a month. The same goes for yourself, if you are honestly doing the same as I am, 90+ hours a month with an average of 9 days off, then you are a special breed of person that can tolerate that and still say nice things about the comapny.

Anyway, GN, over to you...

[Global Nomad]

I'm not going to sell my soul, but I am a pilot. I think I can qualify my existence by some of the earlier inferences I made towards EK management before you were here. Would KG know the said individuals?

A politician? I'm flattered, I don't think so. Your questions are cunninglinguist, sorry, cunningly leading so I believe that you have enough information. After all we don't want to bump into each other in the same internet cafe do we?

[Scooter Rassmussin]

Maybe GN has no idea what its like to be an experienced F/O flying with incompetent fools .
What its like to be told no transition upgrades when your due date has been and gone.
Or how close EK has come to losing a hull, although thats no big deal it will be one less to park against the fence..........

Honesty prevails, answer this or go back to the right seat for a month then answer it..........

[Global Nomad]

Tell me scooter, what is a "due" date?

I can't find any reference to a due date in my contract.

[Scooter Rassmussin]

When your friends on another type get a command, who started after you, and you didnt.
And dont bother telling me to leave i already made that decision by my self....Good riddens...................:)

[SecurID]

Due date? About nine months after the sh@g, isn't it?

Seriously though, you are wrong regarding my opinion of Kev, I did in fact state in an earlier post that I thought he was too intelligent to even become part of this debate. As for me? Well I'm just a lazy pilot with too much time on my hands, so I come and linger around here... Sometimes cunningly...

Cunningly linger? Now there's an idea, off to bed with the missus, she's calling... :D

[apaddyinuk]

I left Qatar and went to BA and im VERY HAPPY!

[loc22550]

you must be Happy Apaddyinuk to go back to a real Airline.... and left behind you this kind of Kindergarden we have in Qatar.
Cheers.

[daisydaze]

There sure are lots and lots of happy cabin crew , despite what you may have read in other threads on various forums....I have worked for Gulf Air , not too bad - had heaps of fun when I was there, crew parties on layovers, travelled to interesting places I had never dreamed of and got paid to do it. I then worked for Emirates - even better, a lot more variety in layover destination, more money - and Emirates actually give - yes - give each and every employee a bonus if profit is made for the year, even if it is only $1 it is still better then a kick in the pants.
Emirates , speaking only in regard to working life as cabin crew, treat you as well as you treat them - go to work , do your job , behave and you will be promoted, paid reasonably well, have lots of holidays/days off and live quite a lovely tax free lifestyle without having to worry about paying rent, hotel bills etc etc.
So, yes I am happy.

[JoeJack]

I'm quite happy here at GF. Of course every now and then you got ups and downs but at the end of the day, is a nice place to work.
As stated before, salary is not that bad, continuosly increasing in small heaps, although the housing allowance could still be largely improved.
You could even think of good prospects, provided the current transfer/upgrade policy continues in the years to come. It's a matter of "wait and see"...:ok:

Cheers

[Global Nomad]

Valid point scooter, commands should be in seniority across the board providing individuals are qualified. It provides a career structure and stability to the pilots.

However, the difference between the two fleets currently runs at about a month, hardly a catastrophe. I'm assuming that you weren't here in the late 90's when Airbus commands were running at under 2 years and pilots on the Boeing had to wait 4 years. Where it will go in the future, who knows?

If you were referring to friends that were junior to you but accelerated, all I can say is that was probably a known fact when you joined. Doesn't make it right but you did have the information to make a decision.

One sure way to increase your time to command would be to join another airline, unless of course you are going as a DEC and bypassing other FO's who would be senior to you.

Anyway your decision has been made, and good luck to you. We all need a lucky break from time to time.

GN

As a footnote, nice to see some cabin crew responding with a positive take on life. We all know that there are issues out there, but it doesn't remove the fact that there are crew who can identify with the positive traits of our employer.

Secure

My apologies, quite correct about your opinion. Post ammended.

[crazy_max]

I am happy. I have a job, make a decent salary, have my health.
I have a great family.

[ruserious]

GN but I am a pilot

If anyone is interested have a read back through GN's old posts and you will see that it is extremely unlikely he is a LINE pilot with Emirates, at best he might have a PPL

[Capt Krunch]

Crazy Max

you took the words right out of my mouth.. even though for the past few years I have been working with Qatar`Airways.. i'm still quite happy and enjoy the job very much..

for every negative there IS a positive.. sometimes it might be hard to find,, but it's always there somewhere..

:D

[Homo Ludens]

No, there aint no 'happy' pilots. Everybody complains! As s Jordanian Captain told me ones: 'If you give a pilot a bag of gold, the reaction will be: Oh, it's too heavy!'
Why, people, we are like this?