Gulf Companies with EU, US, Asian Bases?

[747flyby]

I dont understand as I read from my collegues that Gulf airlines are suffering from crew shortage and fatique. They have lots of unhappy crewmembers and in many cases unhappy families living in the GULF.
No secondary education for their children. There is a common crew shortage in the world. Experienced crew are hard to find because there is a competition between the airlines. What is the reason they give for not opening crew bases in other continents like ANA, Cathay, Oasis and other companies. They would solve lots of problems with that only. Happier crews who get to stay at home and with children in schools in their home country in touch with their own friends and families. They pay housing allowance in the Gulf countries where rent and price of accomodation is on the rice due to high demand. If you live at home there is no housing allowance. Im sure its a financial issue. They would solve many problems by letting crews live at home. More recruitment and people would stay longer. Now if you stay out of many european countries more than 180 days you are practicaly tax free anyway.

Would someone give me a sane answer please.

[Desert Diner]

However, if you are "based" in a European country you are not tax free. And that sort of spoils the whole reason of moving to the Middle East in the first place:bored:

[Dixons Cider]

This old chestnut is one of the most often talked about subjects amongst the boys in the land of sand - after the declining US$ and the merits of depegging, salary package, roster instability, housing, leave etc blah blah...

Urban myth has many theories floating around as to why its not happened yet.

Among them is the one that the powers that be have decided that they need ALL the employees gulf based so that the $$ we earn get recirculated back into the local economy. Personally I dont think this holds up, as a percentage of the GDP of the GCC countries, the airlines employees salaries and packages must be 2/3rds of **** all!

Another, and one thats more plausible to me, is that the contracts and work practices that exist in the Gulf would leak like a seive and not stand up to scrutiny should the employee be outbased and therefore subject to the labour laws of the country in question. The potential is there to open up a can of worms for the company.

However, in the current climate of expanding fleets and the ever reducing supply of experienced crew, I think the first Gulf airline that gets into outbasing will be onto a winner and will suddenly find they have a incredibly large pool of pilots willing to steer their shiny machines around.

My opinion only, but I reckon it has to happen at some stage. The only other way is to offer a package that outsrips the competition, and they are very reluctant to spark off a package war with the neighbours. So it comes down to a lesser evil, pay more spondoolies (and possibly more and more and...) or get the infidels out of ones hair and let them stay wherever, paying them only for what they are employed to do ie fly the plane.

It may have to involve setting up another company from which the crew are hired from, or some other form of isolating the parent company from labour issues. Or even surprise surprise, implementing labour practices that comply!! But what the hell, surely thats is a better option than perpetual crew shortages and the disruptions that follow, or parked up airframes that still have that brand new smell.

ah, gotta go...that'll be crew control on the phone with another roster change!!!

[Wiley]

However, in the current climate of expanding fleets and the ever reducing supply of experienced crew, I think the first Gulf airline that gets into outbasing will be onto a winner and will suddenly find they have a incredibly large pool of pilots willing to steer their shiny machines around.Amen to that, with spades on.

... and I think everyone in the Sandpit would get a knowing chuckle from your last paragraph.

[747flyby]

I think you are right about they can treat the crews the way they want in the gulf. I know some ex SIA pilots are taking action in the UK against SIA for breaking the EU law against them. They wouldnt get away with it in Singapore. I also know a captain who used to work for a tuboprop operator in AUH and after they went to see the judge in AUH at labour court and announced everything was settled when he left. When he went to pick up his passport he was told that he had to reimburse the company a big chunk of his last month salary since they decided he would not get his bonus they already paid him. He paid back just to get out of there and never come back.

I was told the best to do was to tell the judge that you havent got all settlements and I you could please have his number in case they wouldnt honour the agreement or the law.

I dont know if you still have to go to labour court when you leave.
But this is how it was.