EK Captains

[fullforward]

Dear Fellows,

I know these issues have been discussed here at least one thousand times. Maybe this one the 1001th :O !...
Some few questions:
1. Living within a normal middle class standards, with two children at school, is it possible to save some money at the end of the month?
2. How are schools availability for foreigners at this point in time? Does EK make serious efforts on this regard?
3. With the prospective new aircraft mega-order would time to command be significantly reduced, at least for very experienced pilots joining now? How long it averages now, for that level of experience?

Good flights! :ok:

Dont't let me be misunderstood, on my latest topic I was not clear enough: I am not suggesting, nor even imagining a seniority list bypass. EK made it clear on their website - they are not requiring DECs for the time being.

Rgds

[Dune]

1) As a Captain, yes you will be able to put some money away assuming you don't go out to dinner every night. As a First Officer, doubtful you'll put much if anything away if you have kids (single guys could probably do it depending on their "social" activities within DXB).

2) Poor availability for North American education; slightly better for British education. The expansion explosion within Dubai has resulted in many of the "softer" infrastructure items being left behind (schools, hospitals, public transport, roads, etc).

EK makes NO effort in this regard. They pay you a fixed allowance (which will probably not cover the full cost of education depending on the school you choose and the ages of your children) but you are on your own finding a place for your kids to go to school.

3) I doubt the time to command will change (other than the odd "bubble" that occasionally creeps into the system). I would guess that at least 80% of the new hires within the past 1 1/2 years are former Captains that meet the EK Accelerated Upgrade requirements. Also many of the F/O's that were "left behind" when the rug was pulled out from under them when the rules changed are now coming up to the required hours. As such, I would be very surprised if the average time to command for those joining now would be less than 3 years. If you come and count on 3 years you won't be disappointed but I wouldn't count on any earlier (but like everything at EK, that could change overnight).

[fullforward]

Dear Dune

Thank you very much for the immensely valuable and unbiased information. Fellows like you make we believe that not everything is lost on our profession. Please see your PM.

Best regards

[stormcloud]

Just as an aside,
I understand that a number of 777 Captains who were 330 F/Os are being moved back to the 330. This will make commands available on the 777 and, so I am led to believe, that there is no further requirement for accelerated commands for the time being.
Don't know how long for though.
Regards.

[sluggums]

Given that we are talking about upgrades, what is the revised final total ac by 2010 with the additional order recently reported? Do EK have a single seniority list.