Emirates Roadshow HONG KONG March.
 

The Pilot Information Sessions will be held at SkyCity Marriott Hotel on March 30 and 31.

Emirates also welcomes experienced pilots to join as First Officers, A380 Direct Entry Captains, or via the Accelerated Command Programme.

"The company points out that the participants only have to join one of the sessions and do not have to register beforehand. Prospective pilots can chat with those currently flying with Emirates and learn more about the recruitment process, job opportunities, training programs, career planning and benefit

"We look forward to having more talented pilots from Hong Kong come onboard our airline," Emirates' Area Manager for Hong Kong Nasser Bahlooq said.

The selection process will be separated into two stages, with the first stage of assessment to be conducted remotely, while the second stage will be done in Dubai over two days.

Bahlooq remarked that Emirates offers exciting benefits for pilots and their families, including competitive tax-free salary, 42 days of annual leave, a generous allowance for accommodation and education, full medical benefits, discounted travel benefits for the wider family and friends,"

Hong Kong SkyCity Marriott Hotel

Thursday, 30 March
Morning session: 11:00am
Afternoon session: 2:00pm

Friday, 31 March
Morning session only: 10:00am

JUST in case you feel excited and naughty.. https://www.emiratesgroupcareers.com/pilots/

I will be attending …. EK rehired all of their sacked pilots in the same rank on the same pay scale. Prospects are good over there.

No, they did not…there are many pilots they did not take back.

Is this the roadshow that's being run by an ex Cx 777 F/O?

Why would anyone want to leave this Oasis for a sandpit? Seriously, why trade in your shoebox apartment for a spacious villa? That’s just more room to clean!

Why give up back to back LH and ULH flights with min days off for one flight and then 3-4 rest days afterwards?

And of course you’re going to miss the basic medical coverage, and schooling!

Nothing says I’m a provider for my family than giving up 95% of one’s salary to pay for schooling, housing and extra medical coverage!

consider before applying, the grass is not always greener on the other side, or is it the sand is not more white on the other side?

Direct entry command on the 380? And knock back the chance to fly the 320/321? Tell em they're dreaming.

Anybody been to the road show?

Any tips ? Or info?

But.. do they serve Illy coffee?
Does anyone have any idea what the typical rosters are? any decent time off in a row?

Forget commuting unless you fancy living somewhere else in the ME

Joining EK means making Dubai your “home”

It could work for some but not for everyone

With 2 kids in HK and the lack of educational support on COS18, it makes perfect sense for me to make the move to EK. There are many good and affordable schools to choose from in Dubai without having to top up too much from my wages. The 4 bedroom villas with all bills paid for by the company beats living in the crammed conditions we have here in HKG. The summers will be unpleasant but all in all, it’s not a high price to pay for comfort and security.

Out of interest, does the wife work? And what schools are your kids going to or wanting to go to..

I could honestly think of nothing worse than EK and living in Dubai...

Plenty in Dubai are commuting to Europe. Just saying. Maybe not to North America but Europe is pretty straightforward.

Does emirates have a proffering system?
Joker g equivalent?
Can you swap?
Is it possible to get a block of days in a row?
How many in a row?

It’s catch 22 though. Yes the wife can work full time, but then that means hiring a full time helper who has to live in your tiny house and basically raise your kids now. Unless you’re a local and have family here.

If you’re going to be an expat living away from your home country and extended family, EK is obviously a much better option than CX now. Only an absolute management cool aid drinker says otherwise.

The ONLY thing CX has going for it now is shiny new jets.

Lol, have you read COS 18. You will have none of the above until they can crew the fleet, thinking 2035.

SCMP reported about 100 pilots attended the first session most from CX but some from SEA carriers. Can CX really afford to lose more pilots?

Management doesn’t care, the salary is “competitive for the aviation industry in Hong Kong”. They refuse to acknowledge pilots can now easily move to other countries with better packages

Rosters from mates and snap shots I've seen are reasonable. 777 usually 3-4 days off after individual trips of 2-3 day patterns. No integrated patterns. 777 freight rosters are up to 10 day patterns but longer blocks off of around 7-8 days. The freighter trips are not mandatory you can opt in or out of em. 380 is generally 4 day patterns with 5-7 days off. All long haul 2 CAPT 2FO. No SO's

Swap system is available as well as live leave system for last minute annual leave requests and changes. 6 weeks leave all ranks! GaiamTV to take 30 days each year.

All housing paid including utilities. 4 bed Villa with club house and communal pool tennis courts etc. No option at the moment to opt out of company accom but if it does open up ( supply demand) $4200 US per month for FO and 5500US for Captain. But the catch is once outside company accom the utilities are your own expense.

For DEC it's a good deal assuming you have a place in HK you can pocket the rent from that and live housing cost free in Dubai. Pay is virtually the same when you take into account tax free.

Basically same as living in Hong Kong but schooling package is far superior. Only secondary requires Top up but in HK terms is like 10000 HKD as total top up for the year for one of the top schools in DXB.

The cars supplied to and from work are a bonus.

Medical benefits are superior or old CX style but also covers family across the world. Private rooms etc etc.

CX pos18 package is modelled on the Emirates one but with a downward adjustment to $$$ and benefits, assuming people would rather be in HK over The desert. But I don't think the assumption and the evidence of the continued attack on threshold hours shows the same financial stability as Emirates.

If you have a long career ahead of you as FO and you have moderate hours Emirates would be better financially. Quick command and accelerated command contracts on offer. The Provident fund is better than the current CX one so compounded over a long career will always be far superior.

For Direct Captains on 380 it's basically good rosters and if more than 5 years of service it would be financially better off assuming you have your place in Hong Kong generating extra $$$. Also if you can make 10+ years you get staff travel for your retirement!

Living in Dubai same same but different to Hong Kong. Some things better, some things worse. But if you can make it work in your favour it could be the best move you've made. But obviously not for everyone.

Are you saying I have to give up W patterns with max 3 days off and/or use my annual leave as recovery?

Give up the slum schools of HK for top class education in Dubai?

Leave my amazing 500sq ft apartment for a villa with a back yard?

You can’t be serious about having to give up the comfort of a bus/train/bus to/from work for a chauffeur driven car.

“No thanks - I will not give that up to live in the sandpit when I can live HK in pure ignorant bliss” - Every Quintessential white guy in CX

Ha ha. Classic.

I forgot to mention you get a 20 foot container to relocate to DXB so you can bring your favourite things from your apartment.

Plus, because the 4 bedroom villa will have too much space. They give you $6500USD to buy furniture as a one off welcome to DXB allowance.

Plus if your kids are at boarding school you get 2x confirmed return tickets for them to school/DXB each year per kid to make it hassle free for them to get flights over the school holidays!

Schooling is covered until your kids are 19 and that includes University overseas.

You get 6 annual leave confirmed bookable tickets each year as well for employee and family.

You get 10 tickets a year for "friends" outside of your normal travel nominees.

Plus 50% of your salary is protected against FX exchange rate extremes, but your salary will only go up but never down.

Those are some of the little things, but for some the little things are important..... Like command dinners, gold pins for 10,15.20 years. First class lounge pass when you get your command.... All those things have been wiped in HK but atleast in DXB someone still thinks it's important.

Someone mentioned Etihad gives a 40ft... Makes It just that much more enticing.

Anyone know how much they charge for staff travel? is it a profit driver like it is in cx?

I commuted with CX for many years. Kept an Xcel file on all my expenses. I spent over $80000 usd on staff travel so I could stay connected to my family. Only CX would choose to make a profit off their own employees.

Have some friends in EK and they say staff travel is amazing. One friend has retired and he gets a huge amount of free tickets a year all upgradeable to first. My jaw dropped when he told me the benefits. Maybe someone who has joined EK could post on here with what you now get?

Yes I’ll be fascinated to hear too. Browbeaten HK expats searching for honour amongst thieves!

EK & CX? Really? One abusive relationship to another. One political dictatorship to another. One place of scant labour protections to another….

But sincerely Good Luck.

I believe QR pays education up to the age of 21. I met someone from QR Executive a few yers ago, he was telling me that he was able to live in Canada and QR were paying for his kids to attend university there.

You can swap in and out of freighter trips? Really? I would love to know how that works.

Does anyone know if EK accommodation allowance is still available?

For any new joiners now the scheme is not available. But it may become available v in the future when Emirates supplied villas become full.
It's purely supply and demand.

I have seen that Emirates has updated the Pay and Benefits section on their website and now they no longer offer the 15,500 AED accommodation allowance. Can someone confirm it?

They have empty villas they need to fill up first..

Speaking of EK. Some uncanny similarities..

The basic for CN is coincidentally same as basic after tax in CX. The mentioned cash allowance is (was) roughly same as in CX as well. Cost of living roughly same as well..

Now it's down to children ( 100% cover in EK, 50 % in CX), productivity pay ( 0 % in EK, ?? in CX), pace of promotion, work enthusiasm ( 80-90 hrs EK/ 70% ish in CX), commuting requirements and housing/ environment preferences ( hot and sandy in EK, small and crowded in CX).

Medical and dental coverage is better

Staff travel is better

Provident fund is better.

But your right coincidentally the CX package is the same... I guess we now know the bench marking they used.

It's also funny how our salaries have gone down by a quarter to a half, while the directors bonuses have almost doubled. Magic!

I pay 500 for additional medical cover per month, so not really significant I would argue. Staff travel in EK a bit better, but less commuting opportunities overall. EK provident is 12%, salary in CX probably a tad higher which equalises our 10%.

Overall it looks like they are playing us. The two packages come in different shades of brown...

Lets look at the similarities and some contrasts shall we?

I know you’re a company man, or staying in CX somehow makes you feel better about your life choices.

Let’s compare FO1 to the emirates Basic with no productivity pay. All in USD and after tax assuming 15% in HK for basic salary and all allowances

its unfair to compare commander scales as there is no DEC for CX

Basic Salary
CX - $5473
EK - $ 7079

Housing -
CX - (Assuming pilot allowance is used for housing) $2165
EK - $0

In saying that, finding a place in HK for a family of 4 to live comfortably will cost a lot more that $2165 - average price in TC for an 85sqm 3 bedroom apartment is about $3000.

Education
CX - Upto $10828 per child (provided receipts are provided)
EK - $10211
Education is a lot more expensive in HK, with a mid tier school costing about $17835, whereas in the UAE it’s about $12800.

Medical
CX - Low limit medical coverage worldwide for pilot only - HK only coverage for family
EK - Excellent medical coverage - Worldwide for family

Leave -
CX - Five Weeks
EK - Six weeks

Commuting -

CX - possible but can be difficult at times depending on the season.
EK - Maybe to/from Europe



The Basic breakdown of income. Now tell me which do you think is a more superior package?

EK is Latin for ughhh... hot, dusty, hot again, humid beyond measures, you can't even walk outside or ride a bike / hike / lie on a beach before your skin falls off. Winter is nice there, but that's about it for 4 seconds.

Sure you get paid a little more, housing and medical are a little better, but it is not some huge 50% overall increase in pay / savings each month. You may hate HK and fair enough a busy city isn't for everyone, but there are places out there that are quite and a lot cheaper to rent. There is way more to do, way more to enjoy on your days off. Dubai, well unless you love shopping with your Gucci bags inside malls then by all means.

Make one mistake in EK or say one thing that rocks the boat, oh boy.

Think wisely before you jump ship, starting at the bottom again isn't great.

Without the productivity variable the comparison makes no sense to me.

PS I am my own man

Find me a 3 bedroom place that is cheaper to rent that is comparable to TC that is adequately liveable for less that $3000 USD a month….. I’ll wait.

Things to do? Disneyland? Ocean Park? Shopping malls? Eat second rate overpriced food? That’s after spending a draining 2 hour commute on 2 trains and a bus to get to one’s destination, no one is up for doing anything. Also there is a lot more to do in Dubai.

To be fair one thing EK has going for it is financial certainty. Housing is taken care of, so you don’t need to use a big chunk of your pay to supplement living in a nicer area than TC, or a slightly bigger flat because you were so imprudent as to have children. In EK your monthly income is a known quantity, your housing, schooling and even some bills are taken care of, so your monthly income is almost fully disposable income. Financial planning and regular saving are possible.

With our lot, now you have no idea how much you will make: it’s variable and completely under their control. You might have some good months, followed by many more where you’re making way less. All it takes is being on an overmanned fleet/rank, going on leave, getting sick, or just a roster change or an AOG lowering your hours, and suddenly you lose huge chunks of what you though might be your income that month. All the while eye-watering rent and schooling still need to be paid regardless of your misfortune. Very disheartening, and difficult to plan for your financial future.

I seem to remember that in EK you don't get paid for or hours aren't counted for time in the bunk. How does this affect things?
Do you end up working more for the same pay or end up making less for the same flying?
Typical amount of days off a month on 380/777? Is this all over the place or can you group it together?
Mentioned earlier is the limited options for commuting, why is that?

Hours in the bunk don’t count towards the FTL’s but you still get paid the per diem.
Rosters are usually one flight followed by 2-6 days off depending on fleet (less days off on 777, Airbus is about 4-6 days off). This is the limitation to commuting.

They target 85 hours per month, depending on the months but from friends on the Airbus, they’re running around 70hrs per month.

I would love to see an actual roster showing 6 days off in a row. EK drive to give you 8 days a month off..no more. Remember you have to be in Dubai 12 hours before your duty, and if it’s a ULR, you have to be in Dubai 3 days before your duty. Forget commuting.