Cheap is Expensive
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 56
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From: UK
Cheap is Expensive
A simple fact of life is that you get what you pay for.
There are the odd exceptions but it is universally accepted that if you want quality, reliability, safety, economy and longevity, it costs more with almost anything you care to mention.
This becomes particularly poignant when looking at hi-tech products and the specialized skill sets employed to operate them.
Assuming one accepts this generality then it follows that the quality at EK is on a downward slope as without doubt they are deliberately eroding the pay scales through inflation. The starting salary for a FO has moved up by 0.5% since June 2011 and will not change until a possible increase in May 2015. That’s USD 27 p/m in four years!
The erosion of this quality within a pilot force flying the biggest route network in the world with some of the largest jets, toughest rostering and downright fictious duty times is not without its risks I’m sure. I hope when the pigeons come home to roost it’s only embarrassing or expensive rather than fatal or injuring.
I’m sure the managers have all sorts of metrics and statistics to show this is not happening but anyone who has been here over the last decade knows this to be a fact. The biggest threat I perceive is the loss of experience both in joining and through exodus. The entry standard is way below what it used to be.
I don’t blame the incoming for this. Experience takes time. They will learn but it will take time and mistakes. It will take longer and the mistakes possibly more serious, if the experience that teaches them is leaving by being squeezed out through salary value attrition.
Aside from this “cheap is expensive” in other areas; for instance lack of experience leads to increased fuel burn, the biggest single cost of the budget. I don’t have to explain to anyone with experience the many ways that this occurs on a daily basis. It’s easy to save 1000 dhs of fuel on a flight if you know how. Now I suspect the lack of experience and a growing level of apathy will ensure this happens less.
I can only imagine the millions that could be saved with management encouraging and rewarding happy and motivated pilots, with the more senior enthusiastically showing the way in the knowledge that they are in return rewarded by a salary that is not being eroded, or a profit sharing scheme that actually ‘shares’ some of the profit with all employees regardless of the profit size.
My area of expertise is only one where I can see true potential. I’m sure the same applies within the other big cost centers with motivated cabin crew and engineers who don’t feel they are being slapped in the face by the greedy forces of corporate economics that ignore the vital issues and potentials of the human aspect.
It’s a fact that kingdoms rise and fall. Erosion of quality in some area whether it be the leaders, the system or the workers is almost always the predominant factor.
I hope these are not the twilight years for EK.
There are the odd exceptions but it is universally accepted that if you want quality, reliability, safety, economy and longevity, it costs more with almost anything you care to mention.
This becomes particularly poignant when looking at hi-tech products and the specialized skill sets employed to operate them.
Assuming one accepts this generality then it follows that the quality at EK is on a downward slope as without doubt they are deliberately eroding the pay scales through inflation. The starting salary for a FO has moved up by 0.5% since June 2011 and will not change until a possible increase in May 2015. That’s USD 27 p/m in four years!
The erosion of this quality within a pilot force flying the biggest route network in the world with some of the largest jets, toughest rostering and downright fictious duty times is not without its risks I’m sure. I hope when the pigeons come home to roost it’s only embarrassing or expensive rather than fatal or injuring.
I’m sure the managers have all sorts of metrics and statistics to show this is not happening but anyone who has been here over the last decade knows this to be a fact. The biggest threat I perceive is the loss of experience both in joining and through exodus. The entry standard is way below what it used to be.
I don’t blame the incoming for this. Experience takes time. They will learn but it will take time and mistakes. It will take longer and the mistakes possibly more serious, if the experience that teaches them is leaving by being squeezed out through salary value attrition.
Aside from this “cheap is expensive” in other areas; for instance lack of experience leads to increased fuel burn, the biggest single cost of the budget. I don’t have to explain to anyone with experience the many ways that this occurs on a daily basis. It’s easy to save 1000 dhs of fuel on a flight if you know how. Now I suspect the lack of experience and a growing level of apathy will ensure this happens less.
I can only imagine the millions that could be saved with management encouraging and rewarding happy and motivated pilots, with the more senior enthusiastically showing the way in the knowledge that they are in return rewarded by a salary that is not being eroded, or a profit sharing scheme that actually ‘shares’ some of the profit with all employees regardless of the profit size.
My area of expertise is only one where I can see true potential. I’m sure the same applies within the other big cost centers with motivated cabin crew and engineers who don’t feel they are being slapped in the face by the greedy forces of corporate economics that ignore the vital issues and potentials of the human aspect.
It’s a fact that kingdoms rise and fall. Erosion of quality in some area whether it be the leaders, the system or the workers is almost always the predominant factor.
I hope these are not the twilight years for EK.
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 178
Likes: 0
From: Dubai
What do you mean cheap? Aren't all Gulf Pilots "dangled" with a fat pay packet;
Gulf carriers like Emirates and Etihad Airways dangle fat pay packets to bring Indian pilots on board - Economic Times
Gulf carriers like Emirates and Etihad Airways dangle fat pay packets to bring Indian pilots on board - Economic Times
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 132
Likes: 0
From: Big Country
I hope these are not the twilight years for EK.
The "cheap is expensive" rules certainly didnt come into play with the world's best, world's flashiest, biggest, blingiest, goldest, baggiest uniform issue. After pant legs tearing, see-through shirts, name tags falling off the pins, wings falling off the shirts, belt buckles turning from "gold" to silver, !!!!ty shoes no one wears and those ridiculous aussie hats...... At $590 per fully-outfitted pilot it was a steal. The cheapest uniform outfitting ever and not a single complaint!
We look so good I can't imagine why they haven't put a 50m high pilot poster next to the 19yo cabin crew on the HQ carpark wall in all his fat-assed glory. One of the pud-gripping posers already proudly featured on the walls in the training school would fit the bill! Jesus where do they find those willing tossers???
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 625
Likes: 0
From: Dusty West
The current reign of managers are on their way out so the really don't care about the future once they get out the door...they have their money...and yours!
The fact is that the next batch of 9th floor managers will have the ominous job of repairing all the damage done....its not going to be pretty. Using history as a yard stick, I think you will see a repeat of Gulf Air on many levels. Historically the company had (up to 2006 anyway) treated their employees well and same could be said for the employees treating the company well. Petty grudges and micromanagement set the wheels in motion to ensure the downward trend...the writing is on the wall. Sporadic profit share and very few increases over the past 3 years are clear indicators the there in trouble in paradise.
Empires do implode from within.
The fact is that the next batch of 9th floor managers will have the ominous job of repairing all the damage done....its not going to be pretty. Using history as a yard stick, I think you will see a repeat of Gulf Air on many levels. Historically the company had (up to 2006 anyway) treated their employees well and same could be said for the employees treating the company well. Petty grudges and micromanagement set the wheels in motion to ensure the downward trend...the writing is on the wall. Sporadic profit share and very few increases over the past 3 years are clear indicators the there in trouble in paradise.
Empires do implode from within.
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
From: Dubai, UAE
Well that’s the solution then!
All airlines should hire Indian pilots who are cheap. There can be a race to the bottom as they undercut each other for a job.
Eventually they are all working for a couple of hundred dollars a month like the unfortunates in the sweatshops producing T Shirts in Bangladesh while their masters get fabulously rich on the back of their labours.
It won’t occur to them that this is fundamentally exploitive, and one step off slavery. That will all be lost in the desire to cut the next one out of a job.
The corporations will love this. Longer hours, less perks, buy your own uniform, bring your own food. Hell why stop there? They can pay for the manuals, the recurrent checks, use of the headset...
Who knows perhaps they can hire 16 year olds willing to work a 20 hour day, rest in the terminal or the aircraft. Maybe even lock them in the building and chain up the fire exits.
BeCareful - you are clearly a myopic fool who deserves to be exploited because obviously it’s ok in your world.
There was a sentiment once that slaves should be grateful for the food they got, the roof over their heads and the occasional flogging to "educate" them.
It still goes on in the third world but hopefully the civilized countries have advanced, moved away from that and strive for a more equitable society.
I say you go back to India then and take your Neanderthal attitude with you.
As for your name: A watery attempt at intimidation…but very in keeping with your style…It suits.
All airlines should hire Indian pilots who are cheap. There can be a race to the bottom as they undercut each other for a job.
Eventually they are all working for a couple of hundred dollars a month like the unfortunates in the sweatshops producing T Shirts in Bangladesh while their masters get fabulously rich on the back of their labours.
It won’t occur to them that this is fundamentally exploitive, and one step off slavery. That will all be lost in the desire to cut the next one out of a job.
The corporations will love this. Longer hours, less perks, buy your own uniform, bring your own food. Hell why stop there? They can pay for the manuals, the recurrent checks, use of the headset...
Who knows perhaps they can hire 16 year olds willing to work a 20 hour day, rest in the terminal or the aircraft. Maybe even lock them in the building and chain up the fire exits.
BeCareful - you are clearly a myopic fool who deserves to be exploited because obviously it’s ok in your world.
There was a sentiment once that slaves should be grateful for the food they got, the roof over their heads and the occasional flogging to "educate" them.
It still goes on in the third world but hopefully the civilized countries have advanced, moved away from that and strive for a more equitable society.
I say you go back to India then and take your Neanderthal attitude with you.
As for your name: A watery attempt at intimidation…but very in keeping with your style…It suits.
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 1,260
Likes: 1,170
From: Kichin
I have been in the airline industry long enough to earn a big ol' bald spot and I have seen countless operators go so cheap they struggle to make ends meet, or attract the right people.
It is a function of people with a piece of paper from a university and no !!!!!!! idea, running airlines. Ops normal everywhere sadly.....
It is a function of people with a piece of paper from a university and no !!!!!!! idea, running airlines. Ops normal everywhere sadly.....
