View Full Version : EK pilots..a bunch of mercenaries
gatvol2006
30th Apr 2006, 23:26
Expansion is a very fine balance between commercial and safety. Rumour has it that in the past top management have referred to their pilot group as a bunch of mercenaries and should be treated as such.
Hence the shoddy policies are drawn up that try to govern the individual out of the work environment. i.e. (excuse me sir, may I please leave Dubai on my days off?) Crickey mate, we are not a bunch of school kids. If I want to go to Abu Dhabi to visit a friend on my days off, I have to ask permission? Oh by the way its OK to be responsible for the couple of millon dollar aeroplane you fly including all the passengers and crew.
Medicals have to be done on days off, uniform collection on days off, visa applications for company matters on days off (oh and pay for the photos yourself!), and now you must do home study for your PPC's on your days off which will in the future be monitored on line to make sure you have done your homework. Oh and remember although its a day off the company can request you to fly at any time. So you can imagine how many actual days off you get out of an average of 8 per month! Thats why guys if you see a number starting with 208... come up on that phone of yours on days off, are you going to answer it? When you apply for leave, do you seriously give the correct overseas phone number in the block?
Here's the best .... Captains kids can travel confirmed business class, while First officer gets confirmed economy class! What a joke is all I can say.
Democracy or autocrasy is the million dollar question here. I am not an EK schoolboy, I am not a controlled EK puppet, and no I am not a mercenary. I consider myself, (as I am sure most do ourselves) ..... a professional pilot out to do the best for the company. The question is... is the company doing its best for us? Is this how to get a positive response from a professional pilot group?
I will leave you with that thought!
Arty Craft
1st May 2006, 05:18
Isn't every expat here a mercenary? Can't think of anyone I know who left family and friends behind for love of heat and sand:D
Payscale
1st May 2006, 07:51
I am a mercenary. I fly for money to pay for the life style I want.I enjoy flying very much, but the day i left my home country, family and friends I became a mercenary.
Unless you are wearing a dish dash, you are a merc too. :cool:
That goes for management too. Remember they are the ones who get the big bonuses. Anyone knows how they are calculated. Rumor has it it is geared for each level up...?
There is nothing new in gatvol2006's diatribe.
l agree with the others. We are all merceneries. If another airline offers you more than what is offered here and it is attractive to you and you leave, then you too are a mercenery.
halas
PS If you don't tell the company that you are leaving on days off, then try not to get tangled up in any medical/civil/political issue whilst away. If that is the case then just-do-it!
Mack Tuck
1st May 2006, 11:27
Diatribe
(n.) A prolonged or exhaustive discussion; especially, an acrimonious or invective harangue; a strain of abusive or railing language; a philippic.
Hardly a diatribe; rather a symptom of the seemingly endless and quite unpleasant shafting we have been on the wrong end of.
shafted at the wrong end?? Maybe that's why he's 'gatvol' :E
MR8
fatigueflyer
1st May 2006, 11:56
Mercenary....working merely for money or other reward. Well, I have not been blessed around here with too many other rewards (profit share is pitiful and for overtime we have already paid the ultimate price....family & health) so yes, I still qualify as a mercenary. The only difference is that we don't get to kill anyone like a foreign mercenary. Instead its the company that does it....one by one our colleagues leave us and its only a matter of time when I will be one of them too. Each has a tale to tell but ultimately the price has already been paid.
I enjoy flying very much, but the day i left my home country, family and friends I became a mercenary.
And I became an idiot...you guys did the right thing then, and I missed the boat. Now, I am trying to make it up and looks like all of you are jumping on the closely watched train out of UAE. What to do? What to do? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity....so, somebody, anybody, Bueller? Where is the next train stop?:sad:
jeff748
2nd May 2006, 01:39
Go load freight in an ancient HS-748 freighter in the Canadian Arctic for 13 consecutive winters while your hands freeze to the control column (no autopilot) and your departure is delayed an hour due to absense of fuel truck driver, who is either drunk or incarcerated due to drunken spousal assault and there is currently nobody in the town (pop. 1200) qualified to replace him. Once, by some miracle the aircraft is refueled, you are further delayed due to dog on runway and nobody availble to shoot it.
When you finally get back to "base", the great big town pop. 5000... you share a house in questionable condition with 4-5 other crew members that you may not like. But that is too bad. Hopefully they haven't used all the water - which is trucked in.
Once you have done your time having the crap scared out of you in conditions you could never encounter in a simulator in Miami or DXB, we'll talk about who is a mercenary and who is A REAL PILOT... :E
Some of us earn it. Some of us fly like our grandmothers might have.
jeff748, the real pilots at least were good enough to have been offered a position out of the situation you're in.... and you never knew my grandmother.
MR8
jeff748
2nd May 2006, 02:20
Clarification.
Haven't been in that position for over ten years (yeah, got better offers - as you suggested), but it sure taught me a lot about flying.
Saltaire
2nd May 2006, 03:07
It's all about perspective, and if Jeff is being offered a job on a new 777 or A330 after "character building" in the Arctic for years, then it's a big win for him. Hey Jeff....I'm sure you have some great stories but we've been there. Good luck on the course, you might need it.
For most, it's a job and one that doesn't pay all that well. And the continuous slide in the USD is making matters worse. We're all here for the mighty dollar and it's starting to sink in the sand...
jeff,
Sorry man, it might be me, or yesterdays beers, but I don't really get the relevance of your post. Ok, you might have had some bad days where you were on your own in the past, does that mean you know how to fly a big shiny jet? Do people who never flew HS in the artic have less experience? I have stories I could tell you about flying jets in Europe, although again, I can't really see the point in doing so.
That brings me to some other observations I have to make about your post, without offence:
Most pilots I encounter who brag about how great they did in the past, flying in typhoons or artic winters, snow or sand, ... are presently quite poor operators, trying to make things up with stories: ''once I was a great pilot''.
Perception of events is a very personal thing. While you might think you did some great stuff on a day flying in the Artic, someone with more experience at the time, or less fear, might come home from the same day telling he had another ****ty day freezing his ass of because of some maintenance problems or poor planning, but basicly it was another day in the office.
If you were such a great operator, why did you spend 13 consecutive winters in the artic? Not good enough to get out sooner?
Again jeff, this is not a personal attack. I just can't see the point of stories from the past to justify how good of an operator you might be today. In the end, people will judge you on the day they fly with you, and if you have an off-day (we ALL have those), you might just make a fool of yourself because you set expectations high, and what's worse, people migt just not believe you anymore, even though you have something valuable to add to a conversation.
Happy flying,
MR8
Dixons Cider
2nd May 2006, 10:41
ok boys, not gonna enter into a p!ssing contest with any of you, so back to the topic of this thread it is for me.
Had a think about, and I don't think we are merc's at all....
.....I think prostitutes would be a more accurate description. After all, dont we just lie back there, offer up our wares, and take whatever's dished up - and tell ourselves its all going to be worth it when we get the money in our hand.
Think about it.
Same - same, but different!
halas
gatvol2006
5th May 2006, 04:38
Prostitute is the way to go, open your legs and get screwed by the company! So nice being a slut:p
thrustucantrust
5th May 2006, 07:47
The original poster mentions a list of tasks that are not rostered duty but have to be completed on days off. Since when has self study for sim been allocated as a duty. Its your qualification not theirs. Most of the tasks mentioned are done in peoples own time here in sunny europe. Does sound a little prima donna ish and detracts from the gravitas of more serious roster problems mentioned in other posts..
gatvol2006
5th May 2006, 10:18
Using 6 of your off days running around flight ops and consulates for visas required by the company turns out not to be days off. These days should be rostered office duties. Maybe you guys in "sunny europe" have too many days off to appreciate them!:}
mini cooper
5th May 2006, 11:13
Back to the mercenary thread - has anybody heard anything about a payrise?
5 weeks is a well intentioned short term placation, but I want to know what the long term intention is in relation to the overall package, because if nothing meaningful is proposed then I will have to get my applications out on the street before everyone else does!!!!
I fear unfortunately that any payrise will not reflect a decent increase and I'll then have to sort my life out ie how to leave this sandpit!!!
:cool:
fatigueflyer
5th May 2006, 11:14
gatvol2006,
I have certain issues with the company which I am not happy about but man, you are in real dire straits. I think calling pilots here prostitutes and sluts is a little over the top and really detracts from what you initially posted. At the end of the day, we are here to get ahead and though there are presently some obstacles in the way, we are still getting paid on time and the sun still shines (maybe too much!). I don't consider myself anything other than hired help around here. No, this place is not perfect by a long shot but I don't see any pilots walking around with chains on their ankles. Bottom line is Gat, get on with it or ship out. Make your own choice up and if you feel that you are treated like a pro or slut, do something about it but don't start thinking everyone here is feeling shafted like you are. Hey, advise is free. Good Luck mate!
Ahad Adump
5th May 2006, 14:43
hey fatigued.
I feel shafted BIG TIME!!! same as gatvol.
Jou ma se moer
specialrider987
6th May 2006, 04:17
Hey Jeff748
if you're a canuck and you're coming to EK, be careful. Since I have been here I have lost 17% with the increase in value of the canadian dollar...
rider,
only 17% you are so lucky, I lost 34% to the euro.
punkalouver
21st May 2006, 19:40
jeff,
That brings me to some other observations I have to make about your post, without offence:
Most pilots I encounter who brag about how great they did in the past, flying in typhoons or artic winters, snow or sand, ... are presently quite poor operators, trying to make things up with stories: ''once I was a great pilot''.
If you were such a great operator, why did you spend 13 consecutive winters in the artic? Not good enough to get out sooner?
MR8
You definitely hit the nail on the head. I think you should ask for more details on positions held and upgrades:{ . Then you will find out the real story:yuk:. Oh there are some stories to be told. Perhaps I will e-mail it all to EK. As for the other crewmembers, many more than average didn't like you.