Life at Olympic

[Piloto2011]

Hi,

Any expats here flying for Olympic Air? Would you be so kind and give a brief description of what the company is like, i.e. colleagues, aircraft, roster. What's life in Athens like? Thanks very much!

[redED]

Maybe have a read of this thread (http://www.pprune.org/terms-endearment/431699-what-going-olympic-air.html).

[Piloto2011]

Thanks a lot redED for linking this up. Perhaps one of the mods can move this thread to the one in Terms and Endearment and some more people could shed some light on the situation as it is today?

Thank you.

[NikB]

I cannot speak about life at Olympic, however life in Athens (depending were you're coming from) can be nice.It is your typical big city, noisy dirty and high pace.
However you can avoid all that by living in areas such as Glyfada/Voula/Vouliagmeni.It's not too far away from the centre (30mins by public transit...if the traffic isn't crazy), and it is quiet with the beach about 10 mins away, and the airport at about 30 mins away.The night life is very good as well, and of course you have the ancient ruins to visit and loads of culture and hidden gems to discover.
Have you been offered a Job with them through Parc???
N.

[airbuspilots]

Olympic are getting rid of planes and crew as fast as they can, take care any offer you may get will likely expire earlier than you imagine. I have seen many ex-Olympic crew at interviews and selection days in past few months. Agean are now the main carrier of Greece!

[Piloto2011]

NikB,

What you describe is I kind of what I would be expecting from a southern European country. I think it would be a great experiece to be living there for a while though. But I am just more curious about OA's ops, the atmosphere among crews? Fun place to work? I would not mind to be working real hard but it's only fun if you like the guys and gals you're working with. You know what I mean?
Please understand I favor not to comment on whether the job is through the company you have mentioned.

airbuspilots,

If what you're saying here is true, why are they hiring at all? It does not make any sense?!

[NikB]

Fair enough didn't mean to put you in a tough spot.As you will find out if you work there, a lot of stuff makes no sense in Greece.If it's the crews you're worried about, i know enough of them to say they're good fellows, and ive been in the deck a bunch, they're rather relaxed.Obviously you'll find the odd a*hole here and there but most of them are laid back people.But the expats that were there until recently can go into more detail about OA's ops and so on.best of luck
N.

[Piloto2011]

No one else?

[SmilingKnifed]

I'm a loanee, so I can't speak as true 'Olympiaki', but having lived and worked with them for a while now (on wet lease and in their aeroplanes) I can offer a bit.

The Q400 is now going to be the mainstay of the fleet, as for a multitude of reasons, the Airbus didn't work out for them. The Q fleet is a lot of fun, with some very friendly captains, a bunch of cabin crew who can't do enough to help and some challenging and interesting flying. The approach to the operation from the skippers can be different at times for a western European (a creokolos as you'll soon learn in Greek) but they're also excellent pilots in the main and a pleasure to fly with (you'll be bought a lot of freddos on turnarounds). Athens offers a lot of opportunities in your spare time as well.

Now for the downsides. Olympic management seems to have never got over the previous incarnation of the company as a government owned airline. The waste and inefficiency at times beggars belief. Unfortunately they are hugely resistant to change and you will grow tired of hearing the twin excuses of, 'We did it that way in the Old Olympic' and 'This is Greece, it's different here.' There can also be an utter paralysis filtering down from on high where decision making is concerned (a key factor in losing commercial opportunities in my opinion). The logic being, if you don't make any tough decisions, you can't screw up and get fired.

This has all contributed to morale being poor recently. The Airbus guys are all looking for jobs, many of the cabin crew are being made redundant and the remainder of them are managed through a culture of fear and informing on each other (something we in the front have complained about on safety grounds).

I hope I'm giving a balanced picture of life here and I'd advise you to see how it fits in with your lifestyle. The Greeks in general can be one of the most frustrating groups of people to work with I've ever met. They can also be some of the warmest, most generous and absolute fun people you will ever meet.

It's fair to say I like them hugely (as I've been in a relationship with one for over a year now!). Best of luck :ok:

[captplaystation]

Always nice to hear of a bit of "Endearment" in the Terms and Endearment
Forum :ok: :D ;)

[BluffOldSeaDog]

Capt PS - we all feel sorry for the poor girl ;)

[SmilingKnifed]

Bluff, she sends her regards! What size of football strip is the boy wearing now?