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EK time to Command???

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EK time to Command???

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Old 29th Feb 2004, 21:10
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Question EK time to Command???

Any idea for a possible New-Joiner how much the time to Command is at this time??
How many F/O's are flying for EK?


I was thinking with everything I read the following...

Over 1000 pilots at this time in EK (half of these F/O.. so 500)

By 2012 expecting 2200 pilots, so they need 1200 pilots in the coming 8 years, which is 600 Captains.

If I compensate the retirees and Captains who resign with the number of DEC the take on now, this means that for a new joiner at this time, Command is about 7 years away???? ... and Accelerated Command seems like a useless promise since there will always be someone before you on the list with at least 3 years in EK????

What about the promised 3 to 4 years to Command????

Please someone prove me wrong!!!

I waited for this opportunity a long time, but suddenly I'm starting to chicken out...
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Old 29th Feb 2004, 22:37
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Your math looks about right. Every DEC now will only make the wait longer. We have half the fleet quoted for 2010 now I think, so I guess those already on board are OK RE command, but new joiners must be extremely close to the line.
Seems our credit limits are about to change as well (not sure as to what, as our communitive management refused to discuss the matter!!!).....but taking it that 777 captains are all flying between 85 and 95hrs each during March, I guess they can only go up...will this reduce the number of Captains required? We can only guess.
Average age of Left seaters at EK is pretty low....so retirements will not make a big difference I don't think.....
Don
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Old 29th Feb 2004, 22:38
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I don't believe EK promise a time to command, they just tell you what the current state of play is.

However, looking at the numbers and assuming no increase in the expansion rate, you are probably not far off the mark. We are planning to have 2100 pilots, lets assume that 1150 are captains to allow for management, training etc. Right now we have near as damn it 1000 pilots and are expecting to hire a couple of hundred DECs over the next year or so.

The average age of the work force is pretty low, so best case would be 50 retirements by 2012. So we probably have now about our quota of Captains within the company to be supplemented by DECs. This would mean that 7 years might be optimistic, as we have all the Captain candidates we require until 2012, unless the expansion accelerates. Conversely, if the upgrade rate slows and the DEC recruitment rate increases even guys in the company now might be hurting despite the hollow sounding assurances from management that no one will be disadvantaged.

Hope that helps, not exactly optimistic but best guess right now, who knows what might happen in the future.

Cerberus
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Old 1st Mar 2004, 05:18
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Flying Tuur,

Living here on a F/O's salary, specially if you have a family, will cost you money, start saving now if you want to join!.....Just a tought...
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Old 1st Mar 2004, 12:50
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Time to Command??

Very tough question given the huge movement of the goalposts by EK management. The decision to forego the established seniority list in favour of DEC's and the fact there is no contractual obligation to provide equal (or in fact ANY) opportunities for command in the expat F/O contracts raises a whole new set of possiblities.

One of the issues I am surprised hasn't surfaced yet is whether there will be ANY commands for future or current expat F/O's in EK in the not too distant future. Think it couldn't happen; then think again. It may have already begun.

Everyone seems to assume because of the planned expansion rate everyone joining the company will get a left seat in the future. Everyone seems reassured by the management statements that they only intend upon hiring 100 or so DEC's to fill the "short term void" (which incidentally really does not exist; it has been created by the management to justify the entry of DEC's).

Just for argument sake, what if the DEC program ends up being a success in the eyes of management (due to either training cost savings, perceived increases in experience which you could argue we would attain by hiring an "experienced" DEC and keeping our very experienced F/O's in the RH seat, etc); would that not give them pause to reconsider the entire issue of "limited" DEC's?

Playing devils advocate, I would say that should the current DEC program work out as management feels it will then there is a very real chance EK could go the way of other Far East and Middle East airlines who have reduced or entirely eliminated expat F/O to Capt upgrades and keep the current EK F/O's as F/O's. This of course would not apply to local F/O's who would be given upgrade because they are locals. Is there 600 DEC's in this world EK could hire in the next 8 years (75/year)? Absolutely; and probably more so now that many Captains in "less than ideal" airlines around the world with less than 3000 hours PIC (who may have come to EK as F/O's before the DEC changes) are now forgoing application to EK as F/O's and instead are staying at their current companies to get the PIC hours to apply as DEC's to EK.

Couldn't happen?? Same people thought that at NASDAQ 5000! In my opinion it is not outside the realm of possibility and in fact very possible. And should that be the case, maybe the question everyone should be asking should not be WHEN but IF a command is possible (and it better be clearly spelled out in your contract if you are counting on it). And if not, can you afford to spend the remainder of your career in EK at the F/O wage scales?
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Old 1st Mar 2004, 13:00
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Dune,

Well said!! I was contemplating writing the same thing myself. But probably not as well.

EK is at a major junction in its planned (and unplanned) growth. The big question is, which road will they take? The road you have outlined is a very real alternative. And based on the performance of our enlightened ostriches in the present crisis, any road is possible, regardless of its logical short or long term merit.

Fly safe....
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Old 1st Mar 2004, 18:26
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Guess the future doesn't look to bright for EK F/O's, EK is moving towards SQ with their upgrade policy.

PS: 411, I posted 8 years and more for a command in EK already a year ago without knowing of DEC's.
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Old 2nd Mar 2004, 02:13
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Zer days auf de qvik kommand mit Emirates are fading into zer distance yah - like in zer Vorr, ven ze Eyeties ran avay ven zer Tommy Atkins chased zem viz zere large (und purfektly formed) Kumberland sosagges yah!

If errly kommand ist your 'scheiss-mission', bevare auf der Direkt Anus Kommands, shafting vun up zer brun dirtboxen!

As der illustreous Furher, Herr Thomas 'Pussy' Knowlen spreken: "Ve vill fight zer Piloteens (und ESPESHEALLY zer Ozschwein training Kapitans) on zer beachun, near zer Sailing klub. Und zey vill get zer bayonet in zer hedd YAH! HA HA HA!"

Vot am I spreken about?

Remember mein freunds: It all koms down to seks. To Bumsen or be bumsened!
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Old 2nd Mar 2004, 02:47
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Mensch, ist es wirklich so schlimm?!!!.....
Ich mach drei Kreuze, nie in Versuchung geführt worden zu sein.

Good luck, to you guys.
For your sake, I hope they will soon realize, that you are one of the major assets of the planned expansion, instead of p@ssing on you incessantly.
3000 applicants? Gimme a break!
Those are numbers that mean absolutely nothing.

For my sake, I hope they (those disgraceful, venal middle "managers", as well as their "superiors") choke on their stupid, paltry greed and the whole system blows up in an "uncontained eingine failure".

By posting the truth here, you are doing all "wannabees" as well as yourselves a big favor!
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Old 2nd Mar 2004, 14:15
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Talking

Mein lieber herr Ze German,


Thanks for the humour.......... will you please come over and entertain a bbq crowd at my house??

Excellent stuff.....keep it up!!!!

CTOAN......
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Old 3rd Mar 2004, 07:15
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To bring it to a point, if you join now you have to wait till 2012 to get your command.
2012 the expansion is probably over then you have to wait till somebody retires.

As I posted before EK is following SQ, a DEC you have to train only once, a F/O when you hire him, then when you upgrade him and then you have to train another F/O to replace him (1:3)

EK just found another way to save a few bucks.

3 years ago it was good to join EK, today it's different, it's like the stockmarket that was great 97 3 years later it was a bad idea to jump on a train that left the station already.
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Old 23rd Nov 2004, 22:30
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Angel

tell me guys more then 3500PIC on + 55000KG are they enough for DEC?

Just back from the "Gold city"....
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Old 24th Nov 2004, 02:16
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No DEC's for Boeing fleet, so they say. Command time on airbus now up to 4 years. @1900 pilots by 2010. I guess the line is now being drawn for the Capt/F/O split. Alot of movement ref commands on Boeing for 2005 but with 1100 pilots in the Company, it doesnt take a rocket scientist to work out that commands will soon take a little longer than the figure of 3 years. If you are going to join try sooner rather than later !!
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Old 24th Nov 2004, 02:17
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TOLD YOU SO....

For those that said 'direct entry Commands' will never happen and, the calibre of our guys assures that the road to Command is a short one...think again.

Airlines will always hire based on the circumstanes that prove the least expensive, and by hiring direct entry CAPTAINS certainly IS the least expensive, in the long run.

Some, who have had their heads buried in the ever present sand, have now woken up to this very real scenario. It has happened to others in the Middle East, now it's your turn.

Suckers.....

NB.
I wonder just when some will wake up to the facts of life in the desert?
Answers on a postcard.
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Old 24th Nov 2004, 07:36
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Don't forget - the number of aircraft planned for 2012 (and therefore crews) and what actually happens may be two different things.

A big threat is starting to get under way just down the road in Abu Dhabi. Etihad are planning a large expansion and may severely curtail Emirates plans.

I believe the time for joining and getting a command in under 4 years passed about 12 months ago.

Maybe that A310 command isn't so unattractive after all!
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Old 24th Nov 2004, 08:46
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(I wrote the following before seeing the post above. Good to see I'm not the only one thinking along these lines.)

I’m surprised no one has touched upon the real ‘dark horse’ in the equation re time to command in EK – and that is that EK is no longer the only new player in ‘der Gulf’.

In what to any outsider seems to be a communal commercial death wish, the ruling families in each Emirate are flooding the (let’s face it) finite market of Gulf Aviation with an ever increasing number of new airlines. We’ve got Qatar Airways, Gulf Traveller (a ‘low cost’ all widebody offshoot of Gulf Air now based in Abu Dhabi), Etihad, (also based in Abu Dhabi), Arabia in Sharjah (all of 10 miles from Dubai), as well as the slightly longer established Oman Airways in Muscat.

Even the local Arab pilots are somewhat bemused, reverting to black humour. (It’s the UAE, right? – that’s ‘United Arab Emirates’. Well, Abu Dhabi has Itiad, [for the uninitiated ‘Itiad’ means ‘united’ in Arabic], Sharjah has Arabia, and Dubai has Emirates. So we are the ‘United’ Arab Emirates.)

Unfortunately, the ‘united’ part of the country’s name seems to be a misnomer, with Abu Dhabi (all of 70 miles from Dubai) seemingly hell bent on creating a larger airline than Dubai’s as quickly as possible. Sharjah’s ‘low cost’ Arabia is said to be creating a new market that will not infringe on Emirates’ existing market. (Just like Virgin Blue did in Australia. Yeah, right.) However, the latest ‘Flight International’ speaks of their plans to expand to 50 aircraft. The proverbial Blind Freddie could see that such an expansion will undoubtedly bite deeply into Emirates’ customer base, particularly within the region and to the Subcontinent.

Dubai is half way through building a very expensive new terminal underground on the existing airfield (space constraints, even after removing multiple homes and commercial properties for the runway extension dictate that down is the only way to go to fit everything into the very limited existing site). The extensive building works (to say nothing of the increasingly chaotic traffic situation on the roads to and from the airport) have the potential of, at the very least, delaying the desired expansion. (Yesterday morning’s fog should prove yet again how badly the airport needs an up and running Cat III ILS – highly unlikely in the short term with the taxiways in their current state.) I’ll leave unsaid what they could cause at the worst.

There’s a huge stretch of desert allocated for a new airfield at Jebel Ali, half way between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, quite close (maybe too close for some!) to the burgeoning 5 star tourist hotel ‘strip’. It doesn’t take an aviation or business genius to see that with just a hint of co-operation, a new, state-of-the-art airport that would be shared by Abu Dhabi and Dubai could – should – be built post haste at Jebel Ali. Nor does it take a genius to see that these many separate airlines in such a small area are a recipe for commercial disaster to most, if not all players in a not unlimited market.

Unless the unthinkable occurs and one of the new starts, in their race to expand too rapidly, suffers a hull loss that could knock them out of the race, the prize – commercial survival – will probably go to the airline whose owners have the deepest pockets. If that’s the case, the race will be between Qatar (Qatar Airways) and Abu Dhabi (Etihad), certainly not Dubai and Emirates.

So prospective applicants for a job with EK might like to factor this (in my opinion at least) rather large factor into their thinking.
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Old 24th Nov 2004, 09:54
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Angry but gonna dig myself out

Well thanks for your kind sympathies 411A, diplomatically expressed as usual. However, you were of course, quite correct.

As someone who joined a year and a half ago, I want to whole-heartedly dissuade anyone thinking of joining EK now. It is NOT the place you want to come unless you really have no other options.

I agree with the previous estimates regarding time to command. The accelerated command program is effectively dead in the Airbus fleet as deliveries of this type slow and DEC's fill any gaps. Some fortunate Boeing lads will continue to jump the que for a short while longer as 777 deliveries pick up. Once the less experienced Boeing FO's complete their 3 year sentence they will start to upgrade and the accelerated program will cease on the Boeing as well. DEC's will continue on to the 310 freighter fleet (which is rumoured to involve an aggressive expansion plan) as any upgrade from another Airbus type is not allowed under the schitzophrenic EK (miss)management plan....remember however that DEC's have been hired and given a complete type rating and Command on an aircraft that they have never flown before. Some how having no regional experience, no EK experience and no experience on type is all overcome by the fact that they have a magic number of total hours in their log books.

Now of course we were guaranteed that the DEC's would not, in anyway whatsoever, affect the career progression of our FO's. Well my upgrade has gone from a year, year and a half to FOUR years. I can only conclude that the AS***** spouting the guarantees was either naive, incompetent or deceitful. I'll let you form your own opinion. So to sum up, you have no control of your destiny and will simply have to suck-up whatever shafting the fickle BOZO'S decide to give you next. The sycophantic and in-effective CP'S and Fleet Managers do not give a shi* about your whining and simply keep their heads down.

I should also reinforce just how poorly you will be paid reference the ever increasing cost of living here in DXB. It will suffice for a single guy but simply does not cut it if you have a wife, and kids in school. You will be VERY hard pressed to put anything away for the 4-7 years (or longer) you will spend as an FO.

Now of course you have to decide for yourself if the climate and country appeal to you. I came from the most beautiful spot on earth so therefore have a certain point of view. But let's be clear; for 4 months a year it is HELL on earth. Stinkin', unbearble, stay- in-all-day, HOT. For the shoulder seasons it is simply uncomfortable. For 6 months it is lovely.

Depending on your personality or mood, the driving will make you stay home, laugh or go crazy with rage.

So, the point of my rambling on? I'm leaving! Can't say when, can't say how, but I've decided that this airline doesn't deserve my experience (or that of the hundreds of other qualified FO's for that matter) so I'm getting out. And I don't think I'm alone... Don't let anyone tell you that morale is high or that generally things are okay, because the reality is, it just gets worse and worse.

Don't say we didn't warn you.

Sucker
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Old 24th Nov 2004, 13:50
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It is all about 11 months that I have been here, and I had enough. I have contacted my employer back in the UK and they will take me back, so I am just waiting from my lawyer to tell me how not to pay the bond and I am out of here. It looks good though, as emirates has changed the terms and conditions of my employment without my consent, so under UK law I will write to them to tell them that I do not accept the new offer and that I will only work under the old T&Cs. If they do not agree with this then I am free to go. If they do agree to implement the T&Cs then great, maybe you should all do the same.
Keep looking in the next couple of weeks as I am sure that this news will definetely hit the **** fan and it will be an issue within Emirates. As soon as I have the green light things will be go....
Cant wait to get out of this **** sand whole sorry Award winning airline...
(about to be)ExEKFO is offline  
Old 24th Nov 2004, 14:49
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about to be ex EKFO

Good for you.

Strange how these ( in the travelling public view ) Award winning Airlines lilke Singapore and now Emirates are getting more and more unpleasant to work for.
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Old 24th Nov 2004, 15:44
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I do not expect a fludgate of people leaving EK but in the last few days in my building I have come across people wo are considering leaving. I know of a guy who is leaving EK for Ryanair. You can imagine how bad things must have been for this poor fellow to leave Emirates to go to Ryanair.
Everyone is looking for his own out here and so am I.
For those of you applying I would not even consider time to command as a factor for not coming here. Lies, management inaptitude, and a rapidly detiriorating environment to work in should be enough reasons not to come. Even the guys in the left seat are looking to go elsewhere... Emirates may have a bright future on paper, but it is becoming like Gulfair down the road from us...
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