EK - Meydan Heights preview, get ready

[glofish]

Was that you Alan?

(for those who didn't get the drift, here a clue: #128 sounded as comprehensible and logical like some e-mail of some EK manager ...... )

[SOPS]

Um....what?

[adolf hucker]

Frilly one,

So who's stopping you going to that DEC job in Delta or taking a job in China?

'Hold the line' - what exactly does that mean in a non-unionised company where you are completely expendable. The only card you have to play if you are not happy with your lot in Emirates is to tender your resignation. I did just that and am happier for it. You have not played that card and are therefore complicit in the erosion of your terms and conditions. Understand now?

[fliion]

Nice try Adolph,

Taking an assertion that T & Cs are depleting everywhere...which they are not...and parrying it with ...leave if you don't like it.

Subtle Segway to a moot point

plenty of cards to play and are being played at an intangible cost to co. (but at a cost) too many to name ..

For someone who is over it here...can't keep sniffing hey?

Sentiment from the pilot group to mgt,contrary to your belief, has an effect...

Glad you are happy ... After all ... There are no complaints in your world ...

Bligh's dream

f.

[puff m'call]

Just been for a look see at the place.

If you're thinking about joining EK and this is where you're going to be living you really need to think again!!!

I took some pictures but can't post them for some reason.

Block after block of town houses all the same with NO back garden.

Just awful is the only way to put it

[harry the cod]

I also popped up there this weekend and agree with Puff. Even when the trees start growing and flowers are planted, you can't disguise what's there, cheaply made ugly villas lined up row after row in a rather depressing location.

I'm curious to see how many VP's / SVP's move there that are required to vacate their current villas? The answer may not come as a surprise to most of you!

Harry

[Mr Good Cat]

I have it on good authority that the VP's & SVP's are being offered Silicon Oasis.

Actually, anyone who kicks up a big enough stink is being offered Silicon Oasis.

The problem is that they're being told that within 6 years (i.e. could be much less) EVERYBODY in that complex will also be in Meydan... So do you move there knowing you have to move again within 6 years?

There' 528 of this batch, increasing to 900 total by the next phase. And there are plans for more.

Simple case of deciding who goes first, and I believe that's decided on a day-to-day basis and NO-ONE in the office really knows the answer...

[Dropp the Pilot]

Two decades of observing the workings of the accommodation department and I can assure you that it has always been the worst-run department in the company: unresponsive, unbalanced, and capricious to the point of antagonism.

More importantly for those effected by the Meydan debacle, the winner is whomever's wife is willing to make the largest scene, preferably in the office itself, preferably with weeping children. In one case this resulted in scoring a five-bedroom detached villa in Jumeirah on the company dime (this was before the utility allowance existed). True story, but it was an academy-award winning performance, at one stage featuring collapsing in a heap in front of NC's desk.

Be guided accordingly.

[P7xkk]

I've been reading this thread with interest as my start date is fast approaching.
For weeks, I have been requesting information on our accommodation from the appointed HR co-ordinator (bless her), with the occasional nudge to an HR Manager when things did not move onwards.
I am bound for a management desk in Engineering, and have been told by HR today that ALL managerial, pilots,and engineering staff are destined for Meydan at some point.
In fact, after some drum beating, my initial request of furnished company accommodation has now been confirmed, though initially we were told that no furnished properties were available. So here we are, seeking insight via Google about Meydan, especially given that we have a villa number (its in the low 100s), but apart from a drive by video, some pics taken outside the fence, and a contractors aircon video, there is nothing, nowt, no insight, just what I find on here.
Now given that I specifically requested that a garden was a MUST (2 dogs, both bonkers), being packed in like Glenrycks finest (that's Pilchards or Sardines to the uninitiated) with a space out back that is too small to swing a dead rat has gone down like the proverbial cold cup of sick, and we haven't told the puppies, yet! Also on the "wish list" was a place in DSO, as I was briefed by a double decker captain (a reformed engineer colleague from back in the days at BHX) that DSO was a nice place to live. Of course that too has gone by the wayside now, but I am still contemplating a response to HR about Meydan and its rat run garden. I do have 2 weeks in a high rise on Sheikh Zayed Road to look forward to when I arrive, and have been promised access to the accommodation before the move date, so I suppose that may be my last opportunity to vent my spleen. Not sure if histrionics and a fainting episode will work for me, if I am completely honest. Never mind the 3 month probation period! But that would be better than waiting for my better half to arrive and watching her tear a few new orifices in the Accommodation Department people.....


Now while I smoulder, and wifey fumes, the packing continues, or at least the unpacking of the attics, and discarding of various bits and pieces. Luckily for me, the girls (and boys) won't be coming over until August, so all I have to do is get my feet under the table, try not to upset too many people, book a school place for the Princess, and see what's what out at Vaseline Villas. No wait, that was somewhere else. Oh never mind, the name game could run and run, and Stalag Luft III will still be there next month. Probably.

[sheiken around]

Just a heads up for you..As a EK pilot who has gone through the lack of housing debacle of 2008/9, remember that once you leave your homeland and arrive in Dubai, all bets are off. That is to say, you will effectively lose ALL bargaining/negotiating power - except for voting with your feet. Which, I am sure, you will hear many "managers" say to you as you escalate your concerns regarding your housing issue.

My advice, get the housing resolved BEFORE you come to EK. Meydan DOES NOT have what you appear to need/want for your canine friends. The "backyard" is the size of a medium sized SUV. Sure, the location is fine, but foremost to me is the proximity to the 2 sets of power lines.....and yes, I am aware that the accommodation department is spewing the line "the power lines are de-energized" - but unless EK (in particular the accommodation dept.) is now controlling DEWA...caveat emptor !!!

[The Turtle]

I attended that housing meeting in 08......the one where the now famous line was said, "if you don't like it, leave" to the gasps of the wives in the audience.


This prior poster who is joining, you're thoughts are eerily familiar to my line of thinking back then. It can work out, much perseverance on your part... be expecting a bumpy ride, full of many empty promises

[fliion]

P7

When you interviewed for position...did they tell and show you Meydan as housing

If not you might have a chance ....otherwise - you Sir - are Meydan bound.

Hope those dogs don't bark....we do shift work over here...day time sleep crucial.

f.

[Mr Good Cat]

P7xkk,

Now given that I specifically requested that a garden was a MUST (2 dogs, both bonkers), being packed in like Glenrycks finest (that's Pilchards or Sardines to the uninitiated) with a space out back that is too small to swing a dead rat has gone down like the proverbial cold cup of sick, and we haven't told the puppies, yet!

I'm going to be absolutely honest here, bringing your dogs here is a bad idea.

Firstly, If they're bonkers they won't accept the heat of the Middle East and the confined space of Meydan.

Secondly, if they make any noise at all and your neighbours (justifiably) complain of disturbed rest you WILL be told to sort it out (I.e. get rid of them) or find your own accommodation. All it takes is for your neighbour to write a nasty email to Fleet Admin threatening to phone in sick due to no rest and you'll be in trouble... And believe me if there's one place in the world where your colleagues report people before discussing it with them, it's Dubai.

As the previous posts suggest, once you're here you have no bargaining power you just have to accept what you're told. If that means no pets then you have to deal with it unfortunately.

It's also probably fairer to your pets to find them a good home in the UK before you leave. The Middle East is not an 'outdoor' sort of place for large pets irrespective of the size of your garden. Do what's right for them, rather than forcing them to endure 50 degree heat just for the sake of having them living here with you.

If the kids NEED a pet then get something small that lives indoors, or adopt a local stray cat that's used to the heat.

Or in Meydan a stray Camel Spider maybe

[The Outlaw]

I'm going to be absolutely honest here, bringing your dogs here is a bad idea.[/SIZE]

Figures a "good cat" would say that!!

[Rather Be Skiing]

Originally Posted by Mr Good Cat

P7xkk, I'm going to be absolutely honest here, bringing your dogs here is a bad idea. Firstly, If they're bonkers they won't accept the heat of the Middle East and the confined space of Meydan. Secondly, if they make any noise at all and your neighbours (justifiably) complain of disturbed rest you WILL be told to sort it out (I.e. get rid of them) or find your own accommodation. All it takes is for your neighbour to write a nasty email to Fleet Admin threatening to phone in sick due to no rest and you'll be in trouble... And believe me if there's one place in the world where your colleagues report people before discussing it with them, it's Dubai. As the previous posts suggest, once you're here you have no bargaining power you just have to accept what you're told. If that means no pets then you have to deal with it unfortunately. It's also probably fairer to your pets to find them a good home in the UK before you leave. The Middle East is not an 'outdoor' sort of place for large pets irrespective of the size of your garden. Do what's right for them, rather than forcing them to endure 50 degree heat just for the sake of having them living here with you. If the kids NEED a pet then get something small that lives indoors, or adopt a local stray cat that's used to the heat. Or in Meydan a stray Camel Spider maybe

Hmmmm! 'Don't bring your dogs' comment made by a cat!

[Mr Good Cat]

Damn. Busted!

[P7xkk]

Thanks Sheiken, your advice is appreciated, and thanks to a certain A380 Captain (lots of forelock tugging, even if he was one of "our" apprentices, back in the days of BEA. Credit where its due, he has achieved a lot) I have taken a direct approach to the Accommodation Department which cuts out the middle man, so to speak. We will see what happens as I did remain polite, as you do.
While our pooches are not especially large, they do need a bit of space to run around, and an SUV sized plot, even a Yank Tank sized patch is hardly adequate, even for a human. I must say the overhead shots do seem to confirm that things are a little tight at the rear.
So 2 weeks to go, apparently, and lets hope it is all put to bed before I arrive....

[P7xkk]

Thanks Mr Turtle, I have some time on my side, and a few months before the family follow on to join me. So if it does not go well, I can at least attempt to stay in the temporary accommodation rather than take what we do not want. Or, take the Meydan villa/townhouse (is there a difference?), suck it up for a few months until my better half gets herself a property job, and jump ship to a private letting.
Only time will tell.

[P7xkk]

Fliion, during my 2 days in Dubai for the interview, me and the other candidate for my position were tagged on to a bunch of pilots who were over for selection. We were given the medical centre & school tour, then high tailed it down to Jebel Ali where we were shown a villa. Comments were made by all present about the size of the strip at the rear which constituted a garden, as it was all of 2 metres deep!
No mention was made of where any of us may end up being accommodated, just that the good lady who escorted us on the tour was living in Safa Park with her 777 flying husband.
What is grating a little is that we were asked to give preferred locations, and other preferences, and the list given was 1 item long!
Do we have the choice to choose? Can we choose the choice chosen? Are we purposeless? Should we show purposelessness? Or, should we be purposelessnessless?????????

[P7xkk]

Pets, kids, and the great outdoors

Thanks guys, the pet question is a concern, and we are already planning to leave 2 other dogs behind as they are too old, bless em. My good lady refuses to consider leaving her 2 babies behind, though the horror stories we have dug up about poisoned pets is pretty horrific.
Noise is controllable, please refer to Cesar Milan, that guy is amazing, and his techniques do work.
Exercise, Discipline & Affection, in that order, just like the way I treat my staff........ Easy on the affection I must admit, perhaps the odd cake as a reward.
My neighbour in UK works nights, and has never complained about the noise our lot CAN make when excited, but we will see what happens.
So early morning and late evening walks will be a must, just like they are now.