Emirates Utilities Cap
Join Date: Nov 2003
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If it helps call DEWA 6019999, very helpful and will give you your bills for the last 12months over the phone. Again just for info, me and the wife , no kids in GDV, al bada 15600Dhs last 12 months. Just for the record i still totally disagree with the cap and especially the way it was communicated.
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For info, we have had the same Memo in Engineering and are equally 
.Off to see HR tomorrow, for whatever good that will do me. Looking forward to being rostered on my next off day - and refusing!
Also, like all of you, we have had overtime changed, you now have to work 1 day as lieu hours per month before you qualify for OT payment on your next ovetime day, needless to say they try to avoid calling you in twice a month and when you want your lieu hours you cant have them, so in effect working for free!! Number of engineers have quit in the last 2 months and I expect more as and when things turn start to turn around.
.Off to see HR tomorrow, for whatever good that will do me. Looking forward to being rostered on my next off day - and refusing! Also, like all of you, we have had overtime changed, you now have to work 1 day as lieu hours per month before you qualify for OT payment on your next ovetime day, needless to say they try to avoid calling you in twice a month and when you want your lieu hours you cant have them, so in effect working for free!! Number of engineers have quit in the last 2 months and I expect more as and when things turn start to turn around.
Join Date: Aug 2003
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Interesting pulling the environmental card having one of the largest per capita consumption and waste footprints in the world. I don't see a recycling bin anywhere outside our villa complex. We're all for a greener way of life, conservation and recycling, but who's setting the example? Is EK management, Emirates or the local community setting an example? 
If so, correct me. How many solar panels do you see anywhere in a place with about 347 days of sun/year?
Once again, it's all under the guise of cost cutting. Unilateral breach of contract and conditions of service. Was the untold millions not enough with the change in productivity pay, let alone the 3% increment??
Like every other broad sweeping change, perhaps you geniuses could single out the odd high user at 40k/year and leave everyone else alone. 22500 for the last year, 4 plus maid.
If so, correct me. How many solar panels do you see anywhere in a place with about 347 days of sun/year? Once again, it's all under the guise of cost cutting. Unilateral breach of contract and conditions of service. Was the untold millions not enough with the change in productivity pay, let alone the 3% increment??
Like every other broad sweeping change, perhaps you geniuses could single out the odd high user at 40k/year and leave everyone else alone. 22500 for the last year, 4 plus maid.
Last edited by Saltaire; 30th May 2009 at 15:46.
Join Date: May 2009
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Ashamed
Emirates has become an absolute disgrace over the past 12 months. I feel completely ashamed to be associated with this company now.
I really hope with the latest developments that it is finally enough for the flow of incoming resumes to stop, and their burning of contracts will bite them in the ass for a very long time to come.
Just trying to figure out if we will stick around for long enough to see it happen.
I really hope with the latest developments that it is finally enough for the flow of incoming resumes to stop, and their burning of contracts will bite them in the ass for a very long time to come.
Just trying to figure out if we will stick around for long enough to see it happen.
Join Date: May 2005
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Unfortunately, the mass exodus of pilots and engineers (the 2 most important job descriptions in any airline) won't happen for another 1.5 to 2 years. And by then, the relationship between things such as the Utilities Cap and the 50 other negative changes to our T&C's, won't be acknowledged.
For the love of GOD, our managers can't even acknowledge the obvious LINK between T&C erosion and recent events which highlite flight safety issues. Is there any human being on the planet who thinks that our managers are even concerned about the erosion of our quality of life?
Mark my words, sometime in the future there will be a mass exodus of pilots from EK. It might take 2 years, but it will happen. It will be schmoozed over and the morons in charge at that point, will not understand why it is happening. Not only is Dubai in peril, EK is in peril.
We have had numerous near misses at this airline, and this is the luckiest airline in the world in that respect. The very first instance when there is an accident with loss of life, then the **** will definitely hit the fan. The UK, Europe, OZ and the USA will take the long overdue opportunity to denounce Ek or even suspend flying rights.
The writing is on the wall for this airline. If you ever have had the opportunity to see certain individuals with massive responsibility and no common sense, in action, you would agree. Unfortunately, the demise of this airline is inevitable.
Wish things were different. We should all be updating our CV's because you don't want to be in the middle of the pack when the gross negligence of our managers finally turns us into another Gulf Air. (no offense to the GA guys)
For the love of GOD, our managers can't even acknowledge the obvious LINK between T&C erosion and recent events which highlite flight safety issues. Is there any human being on the planet who thinks that our managers are even concerned about the erosion of our quality of life?
Mark my words, sometime in the future there will be a mass exodus of pilots from EK. It might take 2 years, but it will happen. It will be schmoozed over and the morons in charge at that point, will not understand why it is happening. Not only is Dubai in peril, EK is in peril.
We have had numerous near misses at this airline, and this is the luckiest airline in the world in that respect. The very first instance when there is an accident with loss of life, then the **** will definitely hit the fan. The UK, Europe, OZ and the USA will take the long overdue opportunity to denounce Ek or even suspend flying rights.
The writing is on the wall for this airline. If you ever have had the opportunity to see certain individuals with massive responsibility and no common sense, in action, you would agree. Unfortunately, the demise of this airline is inevitable.
Wish things were different. We should all be updating our CV's because you don't want to be in the middle of the pack when the gross negligence of our managers finally turns us into another Gulf Air. (no offense to the GA guys)
Join Date: May 2008
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Don't simply complain, do something. By doing I mean add a straw.
Normal rev and no eng shut down, just let the odd minute pass before releasing brakes (delay), 180 to 10 160 to 4 .. no can do, got a lower level - who cares, Dubais gentlemens reserve is a constant now, etc
All these things might be peanuts, but they will be noted.
We should have the stats show a stop to all saving trend. That will be noted. We should link this in every discussion with higher ranks.
Just do the small thing that cannot be held against you, but will add to the total.
No one, I repeat, no one ever listens to you around here, they are all so circumspect and fantastic and we are all oh so nought. So our only way to be heard is to show trends, to make stats. Not the MEL/MAN/ACC stats, no! The ones they give us with the briefing package, the one about how much contingency was used overall, how much more uplift. Do the Go arounds, even if you only come close to the limits. A skipper just last week got a warning letter for a meager 2kts over the limit below 500ft, can you imagine that after having listened to the horse and WannabeScottie. What a f#cking contrast!!! The GAs will count. Pull the fatigue sickie, because if you dare throw in that you might have been a little tired with the third unwashed, they'll just say you should have ...
It has to be apparent to them. If they don't listen, we have to show them otherwise, even if this goes against our all professional ethics.
It will be to our benefit.
Very unhappy with the situation.
pool
Normal rev and no eng shut down, just let the odd minute pass before releasing brakes (delay), 180 to 10 160 to 4 .. no can do, got a lower level - who cares, Dubais gentlemens reserve is a constant now, etc
All these things might be peanuts, but they will be noted.
We should have the stats show a stop to all saving trend. That will be noted. We should link this in every discussion with higher ranks.
Just do the small thing that cannot be held against you, but will add to the total.
No one, I repeat, no one ever listens to you around here, they are all so circumspect and fantastic and we are all oh so nought. So our only way to be heard is to show trends, to make stats. Not the MEL/MAN/ACC stats, no! The ones they give us with the briefing package, the one about how much contingency was used overall, how much more uplift. Do the Go arounds, even if you only come close to the limits. A skipper just last week got a warning letter for a meager 2kts over the limit below 500ft, can you imagine that after having listened to the horse and WannabeScottie. What a f#cking contrast!!! The GAs will count. Pull the fatigue sickie, because if you dare throw in that you might have been a little tired with the third unwashed, they'll just say you should have ...
It has to be apparent to them. If they don't listen, we have to show them otherwise, even if this goes against our all professional ethics.
It will be to our benefit.
Very unhappy with the situation.
pool
Join Date: Oct 2007
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Pool,
I totally agree that this new utilities cap is BS. I just called and we are running right at 27,000 Dhms ourselves. I've only heard of a handful that are actually below the cap. Most averages appear to be around 25 to 26 it seems.
I also agree with your concerns about management.
However, I do want to clarify your point of 2 knots over the limit below 500 feet. Are you saying the pilot was Vref + 22 knots below 500'? The target at 500' is Vref + 5 with the absolute MAX being Vref + 20. If he was Vref + 22, then he was 17 knots fast. There's a big difference between the target and the maximum allowable. The target at 500' is not Vref plus 20.
I totally agree that this new utilities cap is BS. I just called and we are running right at 27,000 Dhms ourselves. I've only heard of a handful that are actually below the cap. Most averages appear to be around 25 to 26 it seems.
I also agree with your concerns about management.
However, I do want to clarify your point of 2 knots over the limit below 500 feet. Are you saying the pilot was Vref + 22 knots below 500'? The target at 500' is Vref + 5 with the absolute MAX being Vref + 20. If he was Vref + 22, then he was 17 knots fast. There's a big difference between the target and the maximum allowable. The target at 500' is not Vref plus 20.
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Was thinking the same thing myself about the speed!
I wouldn't want the family down the back with someone up front who thinks its perfectly acceptable to be Vref + 22. Now if it was inadvertent and he thought he was within the limits, then that's slightly different.... Take it on the chin and for the rest of your EK career, make sure you are fully configured by 2000'....... Simple! But stop crying foul when you screw up....
I wouldn't want the family down the back with someone up front who thinks its perfectly acceptable to be Vref + 22. Now if it was inadvertent and he thought he was within the limits, then that's slightly different.... Take it on the chin and for the rest of your EK career, make sure you are fully configured by 2000'....... Simple! But stop crying foul when you screw up....
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While reading the air regulations recently, I noticed how much text is allocated to the added safety margins required for off-airways navigation. I recall an event a few years ago, where the pilots of an international airline, unanimously conducted all flights on published airways, according to the Company Flight Plan, and flew all approaches as full procedure when possible (ATC restrictions). The added cost for fuel was phenomenal, and the company quickly backed off whatever devious scheme the had promoted previously.
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Just called DEWA. Here are the stats for my 4-bedroom bog-standard jumeirah villa circa 2000-vintage.
June 2008-May 2009: (2 adults, 2 kids, 30m2 grass and some plants).
Water: 134,146 = 4024 dhs
Electricity: 55858 = 11,160 dhs
Total year consumption: 15,184 dhs
The bill emailed to me shows zero charge for sewage.
FYI: I asked DEWA, and my villa is charged at expat rate. Elec for nationals are 7.5 fils per 1000kwh compared to 20 fils per 1000kwh for expatriates. Water is charged at 3fils/gal (4.55 liters) versus 0.2 fils per gallon.
My rate of being pissed off for breach of contract: 10/10. My feeling of slight relief that my lifestyle is not going to bite into my pay check: 3/10. Remaining balance of pissed off: 9/10.
I already wrote to Ed and displayed my dismay with the idiotic scheme. Besides the obvious contractual breach, it's a slap in the face that EK will save money on my back, without any benefit to me. If I save on utilities, and thereby supposedly save the environment, I should reap some benefit. Give me some of the savings as cash, and I'll have some incentive to really save. Next year I might very well accidentally forget to turn the faucet off when I go for 2 weeks leave. Ooooops, my 16000 dhs bill suddenly became 21,599 for the year. Childish behavior? Yes, you bet; but if they want to play childish sand-box toddler games, I know exactly how to play.
June 2008-May 2009: (2 adults, 2 kids, 30m2 grass and some plants).
Water: 134,146 = 4024 dhs
Electricity: 55858 = 11,160 dhs
Total year consumption: 15,184 dhs
The bill emailed to me shows zero charge for sewage.
FYI: I asked DEWA, and my villa is charged at expat rate. Elec for nationals are 7.5 fils per 1000kwh compared to 20 fils per 1000kwh for expatriates. Water is charged at 3fils/gal (4.55 liters) versus 0.2 fils per gallon.
My rate of being pissed off for breach of contract: 10/10. My feeling of slight relief that my lifestyle is not going to bite into my pay check: 3/10. Remaining balance of pissed off: 9/10.
I already wrote to Ed and displayed my dismay with the idiotic scheme. Besides the obvious contractual breach, it's a slap in the face that EK will save money on my back, without any benefit to me. If I save on utilities, and thereby supposedly save the environment, I should reap some benefit. Give me some of the savings as cash, and I'll have some incentive to really save. Next year I might very well accidentally forget to turn the faucet off when I go for 2 weeks leave. Ooooops, my 16000 dhs bill suddenly became 21,599 for the year. Childish behavior? Yes, you bet; but if they want to play childish sand-box toddler games, I know exactly how to play.
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It they are really interested in reducing consumption they would pay everybody the 21,600Dhs and let them sort out their own billing. This would be "cost neutral" as that is the average consumption, and it would save on administration.
As for running up a bill to 21,599 Dhs- yes it is childish but if you treat people like idiots that is what they will act like and I would expect to see quite a number of 21,599 Dhs bills next year.
As for running up a bill to 21,599 Dhs- yes it is childish but if you treat people like idiots that is what they will act like and I would expect to see quite a number of 21,599 Dhs bills next year.
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It they are really interested in reducing consumption they would pay everybody the 21,600Dhs and let them sort out their own billing. This would be "cost neutral" as that is the average consumption, and it would save on administration.
If I save on utilities, and thereby supposedly save the environment, I should reap some benefit. Give me some of the savings as cash, and I'll have some incentive to really save.
The added cost for fuel was phenomenal, and the company quickly backed off whatever devious scheme the had promoted previously.
it will impact your sense of decency though. if you can live with this then do it but it'll only make you FEEL better.. no actual benefit.
what this utilities situation needs is to be taken to a law firm. UK/USA/Aust/NZ and a breach of contract industrial law specialist. let us know the name and contact of the firm so others can adopt the same tactic.
don't waste your bandwidth talking about how much fuel your gonna burn. everyone already does that and the managers don't care because there getting savings through transport, our prod salary cut, no 3%, utilities, etc. it is all about PERCEPTION. using fuel is not perceived as anything other than an ongoing expense. the idiotic fuel policy has already been pared down and savings cannot be made there. they will be targetting some other areas soon. i will post the list if you like or if people worry it just gives them ideas, i won't........
hombres, the utilities change is simply another way to get money out of YOU. the true average use is above the figure they created from thin air. you know this because you have seen the way they work and you know they are UNTRUSTWORTHY. you will find you "unfortunately" come in just above the average and have to pay a little. they want your money because they are GREEDY. they only made USD$400M last year.
next year the rates will go up. they cap will not go up. you will pay even more of your salary for something they promised to pay for you. they will "listen" to the complaints and promise to review it the year after that. that next year the cap will go up a little but timed so that that years rate increase is not absorbed.
and we will all get used to it.... that is what they count on.
now..... who wants the list?
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EK management only need to look at what happened when a mother needed blood the other week, and the amount of support she got.......So go on EK management," do what you have to".... WE WILL STAND TOGETHER
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Just checked with DEWA, 32000.00dhs. DSO villa, wife, 1 child, 1 maid, small garden. This is nothing more than a money grab by EK plain and simple. If Dubai was the least bit interested in being enviornmentally "green" they wouldn't be planting "thirsty" tropical trees/folliage/grass etc. and trying to create a tropical garden like setting, but they do. They would plant dessert plants that require much less water (every plant/tree is irrigated to sustain life, otherwise everything would die). They would use solar as there is abundance of sun. This new policy just lets them get their "foot in the door" and as DEWA raises the rates, EK will not increase the utility cap and gradually we will just "assume" full responsibility for our own utilities. Last year average utility bill was over 700.00usd per month, (having come from a climate that was COLD in the winter, and HOT in the summer, my monthly bills were about 200.00usd a month). Who in their right mind would want to buy any property in this place knowing that you will be nothing but a hostage to the greed that is Dubai. EK has zero credibility/integrity as they have decided to break our contracts willfully, and then have the nerve to demand that "WE" remain professional. I am disgusted with this place. 
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Yes it is called monopolies....Etisalat (VOIP is illegal) and Dewa solar is illegal....can't cut into the bottom line, even if it just bluddy well makes sense. Great to know that all the innovative thinking is coming from this part of the world 
Been said before but if it weren't for the oil......you know the rest and history will not look kindly on this place.
Been said before but if it weren't for the oil......you know the rest and history will not look kindly on this place.
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Management in this company have bragged that they enjoy certain liberties not possible in other airlines because of the fact that we are not unionized. This argument, while completely pathetic, does not excuse a violation of a contract and displays a complete lack of integrity on the part of each and every member of the management team. They should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves!!
I may be one of the few who squeaked in under the "average" but I have still written to complain and I encourage all of you to do the same. This applies, not only to the guys in company villas, but also to guys outside company accommodation as well as those in apartments. All of our contracts have been violated whether it affects you financially this time around or not. If they feel we don't care it just makes it even easier for them to do it again next time. If Emirates fails because the utility bills of some people is above average then we may as well go home now as this money grab will not postpone the inevitable by even one single day. This is an insult to our intelligence and a disgrace to the aviation industry.
Of course, this one item on its own will not break the bank, just as it won't save the company, but in combination with all the other things they are taking away it will have a serious long-term impact on your chances of getting out of here with a reasonable chance of a healthy retirement. However, if anyone believes that all the little things they have taken away from us will save the company they are, once again, woefully misled. Ok... perhaps the profits may drop a bit, but US$406,000,000 profit in a year when the rest of the world is bleeding red hardly warrants alienating your employees - especially when the 'locals' don't stand a dog's chance of achieving anything close to what we've done for them.
I am so tired of hearing how other pilots around the world would happily sacrifice a little 'for the cause' in order to keep their jobs. They are not here, they are back home, and they don't have to put up with this "beautiful" place with its shiny buildings.
I may be one of the few who squeaked in under the "average" but I have still written to complain and I encourage all of you to do the same. This applies, not only to the guys in company villas, but also to guys outside company accommodation as well as those in apartments. All of our contracts have been violated whether it affects you financially this time around or not. If they feel we don't care it just makes it even easier for them to do it again next time. If Emirates fails because the utility bills of some people is above average then we may as well go home now as this money grab will not postpone the inevitable by even one single day. This is an insult to our intelligence and a disgrace to the aviation industry.
Of course, this one item on its own will not break the bank, just as it won't save the company, but in combination with all the other things they are taking away it will have a serious long-term impact on your chances of getting out of here with a reasonable chance of a healthy retirement. However, if anyone believes that all the little things they have taken away from us will save the company they are, once again, woefully misled. Ok... perhaps the profits may drop a bit, but US$406,000,000 profit in a year when the rest of the world is bleeding red hardly warrants alienating your employees - especially when the 'locals' don't stand a dog's chance of achieving anything close to what we've done for them.
I am so tired of hearing how other pilots around the world would happily sacrifice a little 'for the cause' in order to keep their jobs. They are not here, they are back home, and they don't have to put up with this "beautiful" place with its shiny buildings.