Ek Questions

[Aiza]

1. do they hate subcontinent pilots?

2. is calling sick for rostered duty an offence?

3. can you travel on days off to any short trip destinations

4. do you have to return exactly 12 hrs before starting a duty

5. are opc/ppc’s the usual stuff? or tri/tre can fail you for any random thing

6.can you hand-fly if you want to? ie fds off, visual app

7. do you go-around with papi 3reds - then end up sitting in the office?

8.is it your fault if the wing walker is an idiot

9. does an Fo fly much?

thanks

[Kennytheking]

I will give this ago because it is going to take exactly 30 seconds before the haters come along and turn this into an EK bashing thread.

1. do they hate subcontinent pilots?
There is racism in Dubai just like everywhere else in the world. I doubt it is any worse than your own caste system. There is some well founded skeptism about subcontinent licenses and qualifications.
2. is calling sick for rostered duty an offence?
NO, but it is monitored and if a trend is detected you can expect some counciling.
3. can you travel on days off to any short trip destinations
In theory yes. In practice you don't get enough off days to make it worthwhile. Maybe if I was 20 years younger.
4. do you have to return exactly 12 hrs before starting a duty
Sometimes you have to return 3 days before your next trip if FDP requires acclimitisation.
5. are opc/ppc’s the usual stuff? or tri/tre can fail you for any random thing
It's the usual stuff. Most people pass the PPC without issue. You will always have to nosh a well filled ****-sandwich in the debriefing. Get used to it. They don't just fail you for random stuff, although there will always be the occasional horror story.
6.can you hand-fly if you want to? ie fds off, visual app
No. At best you can hand fly with all giudance in place. Autotrust always on.
7. do you go-around with papi 3reds - then end up sitting in the office?
No, unless you screw up the go-around. Most infractions elicit an email but you have to go to level 2 to get a visit to the office.
8.is it your fault if the wing walker is an idiot
It doesn't matter if he is an idiot, the crew are always responsible for the disposition of the aircraft. If you taxi into someone else it's you fault and the idiot that was guiding you will be nothing more than a footnote in your accident report.
9. does an Fo fly much?
Workload comes and goes. On the A380 they are coasting at 70 hours a month, although my last f/o suggested that this is changing.

[CACTUS 25]

4. do you have to return exactly 12 hrs before starting a duty
Sometimes you have to return 3 days before your next trip if FDP requires acclimitisation.

Is that really monitored by the company?

Besides that, how are the 777 rosters ? How many days off in Dubai does a FO usually have ?

Best regards,

[BigGeordie]

"..if a trend is detected [in sickness calls] you can expect some counciling." Is that what they call it these days? Counciling is very polite word for what you can expect from the attendance monitoring people (yes, that really is a thing). And, for completeness you should add: "And expect it to count against you next time they are looking for redundancies."

Apart from that they are pretty accurate answers.

[Capn Rex Havoc]

Your bet it is monitored - and punished for infractions

[flyTheBigFatLady]

Your bet it is monitored - and punished for infractions

put Rex and Kenny together where Kenny said nicely in a optimistic way and puts it to a more realistic view.

Bottomline is, as long as they don’t need to put pressure on you the won’t say a word, but if things be needed in their favor e.g. for redundancies or to reduce medical costs they will look at your record and use it. And be a sured you are monitored in every aspect.

[garethkeenan]

Is that really monitored by the company?

Besides that, how are the 777 rosters ? How many days off in Dubai does a FO usually have ?

Best regards,

It absolutely is monitored.

For the first 6 months not many, once the ULR restriction is removed (and you can do them) things improve slightly.

[VC10L1011]

Had a phone call warning me how “it was important to provide for my family” after 6 weeks off due to a broken bone…

I resigned shortly after, life’s too short to put up with snarly comments like that from management.