simba82

Thanks for the Reply High Energy.Good to know that Load Factors are positive after the sad event.Hoping they increase the hiring now in all Departments as I am looking to get into Engineering side at FD hopefully..

Hawaizaada

HI

Anybody who has got thru into Fly Dubai with CAE type rating programme for B737.

babydash_83

Good Day fellow aviators. I am a regional airline pilot in the USA and have close to 3000TT. I just recently successfully went through the CTC screening process and interview process from the pilapt tests and games, and face to face with the HR/Mgmt and the sim. I passed each phase and feel good about my chances. I should expect to get a start or official class date hopefully. Would like to ask my fellow aviators from FZ about the QOL at FZ coming in at this time and how much is the exact pay per month and is the compensation presented enough despite the living expenses in Dubai. And if some pilots are leaving, if one can provide why are they leaving and for which air carriers are they leaving for if known. Would appreciate any input given. Also now that I am done with all of the interview process, if hired, will i be placed in a hiring pool for a future date, or given a start class date and how long can training be from Day 1 to actually flying the aircraft on the line. Thank you.

Luibar

A close friend applied 3 weeks ago to Flydubai as DEC, non type rated. He never heard anything or even got a confirmation email.

Today he send again his application. This time to the Dubai assessment centre. He told me that FZ is advertising for both rated and non rated on several assessment centres. Maybe CTC in Southampton is not getting enough demand.

If Flydubai is not coming with a decent revision on the package and with the Ryanair roadshow in a couple of weeks, the situation can become "interesting" now that the expansion is due to start.

FoxForce44

Don't forget the "pay to try" policy for screenings. I gave up from FZ when CTC tried to charge me for the assessment.

....Bailling out!!!!

babydash_83

After you have completed all phases of interview from the CTC screening, face to face and the simulator, and you receive a email within a day asking for a survey of the whole entire interview process, is that something to be concerned of and expect a no thank you or everyone gets a survey after the interview process is complete.

dubaigong

Babydash 83,

I guess that you have made your homeworks before applying for FZ and that you have read evrything available on this website about it...
I also guess that you are aware that one of our Aircraft has crashed the 19th of April in Russia during a night flight.
Since then NOTHING has changed in the company , the company have provided some support for the families of the victims , a pin have been manufactured in memory of the FZ981 flight , the flight number has been cancelled and they are talking about building a memorial...
Fine , do you think this will avoid another accident in the future ?
Don't you think that Something else could be done ?
A lot of pilots and cabin crew have resigned and some more will do it as soon as their escape route will be in place.
The only attempt from the company to try to keep the people from leaving has been a annoucement of a future provident fund system ( no company contribution announced yet , you can just put YOUR money for now ) and a nice increase of 12 Dhrs per hour on the flight pay.
Now , I know that coming from the regional in the USA you would die for a jet rating but make your homeworks , many of your american friends left already back to the US.
Other pilots are also leaving back to Europe to join low cost carrier like Ryanair , Jet2 , Norvegian and some others are joining the Chinese carrier on long haul or B737 , other Middle East carrier manage to attract Flydubai pilots ( Emirates , Qatar Airways , Saudia Airlines )
Wish you all the best for your decision

too_much

Agreed nothing has really been done regarding schedule after the accident.

I would actually be 100% honest and say I think it's got slightly worse...

I was naive in thinking a hull loss would actually force change in rostering. Sadly not

G SXTY

babydash_83

Many pilots have left over the last couple of years, I am one of them. I moved up around 50 places per year on the seniority list, which gives you an idea of the turnover. Americans returning to the majors, Brits moving to Ryanair, Jet2 and B.A., Cypriots joining Ryanair at Paphos, etc.

As for the reasons for leaving, I can’t speak for everyone, but the common theme with just about all who had resigned or were planning to leave (myself included) was the dreadful rostering. Plan on 80-90 block hours per month, and if you regard that as industry standard, bear in mind that for junior guys, duty hours will be more like 150hrs per month. Expect lots of deep night flights, random switching between day and night flying, single days off, and rest periods that are regularly between 18 and 30hrs – in spite of what is written in the company OM’A’. Standby duties invariably become a mystery flight to somewhere horrible, often in the dead of night. You will also have the delights of deadheading sectors – possibly 4hrs plus at the back of a packed economy cabin – prior to operating back to DXB.

Put all that together, month after month, and you get fatigue. I’ve experienced it during deep night flying, and it’s bloody frightening. In my time there, fatigue ASRs were averaging 20+ per month, and - assuming you could get a response from those responsible for the roster – they would either try and blame the bidding system or shrug their shoulders and tell you “it’s legal captain.”

Another issue for me was training, or rather lack of it. FZ has some brilliant individual trainers, but the culture – from the highest level – seemed to assume that possession of the 737 FCOM & FCTM meant you should consider yourself trained. There is no extra training given for places like Kabul; you are expected to read the brief and just get on with it. Recurrent sims often focus much more on testing than training.

No doubt at the interview you were asked if you’d be prepared to fly to war zones, and no doubt you said ‘yes’, else you wouldn’t be offered a job. However, the least you could expect is that the company has your back covered with security matters, and I have seen plenty of evidence to suggest that is not the case. To pick just one example, a proactive security department would not have allowed an aircraft to land in Sana’a and promptly be surrounded by armed rebels, leaving the crew to try and negotiate their way out of the situation.

In my opinion, given the punishing rosters, the fatigue, the mediocre training and the ‘adventurous’ attitude to risk, the holes were all lining up, and it was only a matter of time before something really nasty happened. One of the saddest aspects of the crash was that it came as no surprise to me, or many of my colleagues. I made the decision to leave last year, when my wife asked me if a destination I was about to fly to was safe, and I couldn’t honestly answer yes. The tax free salary and five-star lifestyle count for very little if you're constantly knackered and don’t feel safe when you go to work. Having escaped, I am now at a very different airline, whose safety and training standards are as good as anyone in the world, and the contrast with what I’ve just left could not be starker.

I seriously doubt the company culture at FZ will ever change.

what-to-do

babydash,

Have you read this thread at all? You only have to go a few pages back to pick up the general feeling within and towards FZ. Go back a bit further, and you will discover even more interesting facts about life in Dubai and FZ. It's all there.

For years people have been complaining about brutal, and I mean brutal, rosters. The levels of fatigue in FZ are immense. Add to that a hull loss recently and you start to to see the the bigger picture.

My honest advice is steer well clear of this airline. I appreciate that life in the regionals is tough, but this is place is dangerous. I and many of my friends have left or will leave soon. The last 18 months has seen over 120 pilots resign.

Be careful what you wish for and good luck in your choices.

G SXTY

Well said.

Just in case the message isn't clear enough, it could just as easily have been me or any of my mates in that aircraft at Rostov. There but for the grace of God.

Even assuming FZ manage to avoid another hull loss, their rostering practices will take years off you. My life in Dubai largely consisted of work, or recovering from work. It wasn't my idea of a quality lifestyle.

JonyBGood

Guys,

This new Airline business culture is the same in almost everywhere.

Investors just want to make money, doesn't matter how or how it has been done.

In case of accident the insurance companies cover all losses, nothing to worry about.

No feelings, no emotion, no regrets, no blame feelings, no humanity... this is just business for then. If you leave tomorrow another one will be in your place.

Low cost, high productivity.

All of us are making someone become more millionaire year after year and that's all. They simply don't mind about whatever, they are making a lot of money and that's all.

Sad but true.

FoxForce44

Got an CTC aviation e-mail today. An AMAZING opportunity for the FZ assessment for free in UK. You got it right! FOR FREE...

Luibar

FZ should reduce the weight of the PBS to create a more balanced roster for every pilot and introduce a seniority pay, along with an increase of the basic to face the upcoming VAT.

Lets see what is going to be the company contribution.

dubaigong

Free assessment with CTC for Flydubaï...

Ask yourself why ? After 7 years of operation , they have now to give the assessment for free !!!

Since the loss of one of their aircraft the rate of pilot's resignation has increase and they struggle to get people to join the company so they try by giving the assessment for free.

They also sent to the employee an e-mail to ask them to recommend people they know to join !!!
If they are not happy about their own conditions how can the company believe they will recommend this job to somebody else ???

what-to-do

Dubaigong,

because they're either too stupid or simply too arrogant......

Old King Coal

what-to-do: That's the whole of Dubai described in a nutshell !

bugsplat

Hi There, can anyone tell me what the Fly Dubai travel benefits are and if they cover parents and in-laws?

High Energy

From memory;
With flydubai you can nominate your own family as Group 1, and extended family (parents and in-laws) as Group 2. (4 persons max IIRC but not sure) You can also nominate 5 buddies and you can only change those once per year.

Group 1 is unlimitd flydubai Firm and Stby tickets, Economy and Business class.
Group 2 is 12 Firm tickets only, Economy and Business class.
Buddies are unlimited Firm tickets in Economy only.

Kids <12 only in Economy. Bookings now done online and deducted from you monthly pay.

On Air Arabia and Emirates it's only your own direct family. No parents/in-laws or buddies.
On Emirates it's Eco&Business with ID50 and ID90. We have the very lowest onload priority, even lower than Dnata. Bookings and changes are now done online. Kids <18 only in Economy IIRC. But might be wrong.

otis44

gentleman despite all the things said about flydubai, I decided to apply for the airline. So I filled out the online form uploaded my cv and everything and now got an email back stating that I should fill an online assesment, tried to do some research about it and the only thing I could find it's that it tests your personality and english skills? Off course it's only the first step and I know that afterwards should i be invited for a screening I should prepare with latestpilotjobs. Am I missing something? can anyone give some advise?