Pixy
21st Jun 2014, 13:02
A simple fact of life is that you get what you pay for.
There are the odd exceptions but it is universally accepted that if you want quality, reliability, safety, economy and longevity, it costs more with almost anything you care to mention.
This becomes particularly poignant when looking at hi-tech products and the specialized skill sets employed to operate them.
Assuming one accepts this generality then it follows that the quality at EK is on a downward slope as without doubt they are deliberately eroding the pay scales through inflation. The starting salary for a FO has moved up by 0.5% since June 2011 and will not change until a possible increase in May 2015. That’s USD 27 p/m in four years!
The erosion of this quality within a pilot force flying the biggest route network in the world with some of the largest jets, toughest rostering and downright fictious duty times is not without its risks I’m sure. I hope when the pigeons come home to roost it’s only embarrassing or expensive rather than fatal or injuring.
I’m sure the managers have all sorts of metrics and statistics to show this is not happening but anyone who has been here over the last decade knows this to be a fact. The biggest threat I perceive is the loss of experience both in joining and through exodus. The entry standard is way below what it used to be.
I don’t blame the incoming for this. Experience takes time. They will learn but it will take time and mistakes. It will take longer and the mistakes possibly more serious, if the experience that teaches them is leaving by being squeezed out through salary value attrition.
Aside from this “cheap is expensive” in other areas; for instance lack of experience leads to increased fuel burn, the biggest single cost of the budget. I don’t have to explain to anyone with experience the many ways that this occurs on a daily basis. It’s easy to save 1000 dhs of fuel on a flight if you know how. Now I suspect the lack of experience and a growing level of apathy will ensure this happens less.
I can only imagine the millions that could be saved with management encouraging and rewarding happy and motivated pilots, with the more senior enthusiastically showing the way in the knowledge that they are in return rewarded by a salary that is not being eroded, or a profit sharing scheme that actually ‘shares’ some of the profit with all employees regardless of the profit size.
My area of expertise is only one where I can see true potential. I’m sure the same applies within the other big cost centers with motivated cabin crew and engineers who don’t feel they are being slapped in the face by the greedy forces of corporate economics that ignore the vital issues and potentials of the human aspect.
It’s a fact that kingdoms rise and fall. Erosion of quality in some area whether it be the leaders, the system or the workers is almost always the predominant factor.
I hope these are not the twilight years for EK.
There are the odd exceptions but it is universally accepted that if you want quality, reliability, safety, economy and longevity, it costs more with almost anything you care to mention.
This becomes particularly poignant when looking at hi-tech products and the specialized skill sets employed to operate them.
Assuming one accepts this generality then it follows that the quality at EK is on a downward slope as without doubt they are deliberately eroding the pay scales through inflation. The starting salary for a FO has moved up by 0.5% since June 2011 and will not change until a possible increase in May 2015. That’s USD 27 p/m in four years!
The erosion of this quality within a pilot force flying the biggest route network in the world with some of the largest jets, toughest rostering and downright fictious duty times is not without its risks I’m sure. I hope when the pigeons come home to roost it’s only embarrassing or expensive rather than fatal or injuring.
I’m sure the managers have all sorts of metrics and statistics to show this is not happening but anyone who has been here over the last decade knows this to be a fact. The biggest threat I perceive is the loss of experience both in joining and through exodus. The entry standard is way below what it used to be.
I don’t blame the incoming for this. Experience takes time. They will learn but it will take time and mistakes. It will take longer and the mistakes possibly more serious, if the experience that teaches them is leaving by being squeezed out through salary value attrition.
Aside from this “cheap is expensive” in other areas; for instance lack of experience leads to increased fuel burn, the biggest single cost of the budget. I don’t have to explain to anyone with experience the many ways that this occurs on a daily basis. It’s easy to save 1000 dhs of fuel on a flight if you know how. Now I suspect the lack of experience and a growing level of apathy will ensure this happens less.
I can only imagine the millions that could be saved with management encouraging and rewarding happy and motivated pilots, with the more senior enthusiastically showing the way in the knowledge that they are in return rewarded by a salary that is not being eroded, or a profit sharing scheme that actually ‘shares’ some of the profit with all employees regardless of the profit size.
My area of expertise is only one where I can see true potential. I’m sure the same applies within the other big cost centers with motivated cabin crew and engineers who don’t feel they are being slapped in the face by the greedy forces of corporate economics that ignore the vital issues and potentials of the human aspect.
It’s a fact that kingdoms rise and fall. Erosion of quality in some area whether it be the leaders, the system or the workers is almost always the predominant factor.
I hope these are not the twilight years for EK.