EK to Decommission 50%+ of Airbus A380, Axe 1/2 of Pilots & Cabin Crew

[14 6]

flyfast123

Hard, but very true words.

There are people under the illusion that should a portion of the productive work force volunteer a pay-cut it might somehow result in the unproductive workers being paid. The idea might be noble, but not realistic. This is a business, not a charity. What bothers me more is that we have been surrounded by poverty and hardship long before the virus, but yet not a single call for people to give up salaries to alleviate the plight of others. Amazing how blind eyes had been turned in the past, but yet now that it has hit close to home.

[Emma Royds]

The uncomfortable reality here is that EK will need less pilots as it emerges from the pandemic than it did before hand. Even if there was a pay cut to subsidise those not flying, it would be simply kicking the can down the road. I don't have any views about the idea of taking a pay cut to help others since my question would be how long would we implement this pay cut for? Would it be months or even years? Many of those pilots that were recently recalled on unpaid leave are unfortunately sitting doing very little after being rechecked back to the line. The company had grossly misjudged that the UK would open up last week to inbound travel from the UAE and the company was planning on around half a dozen 380 flights to the UK every day by the end of May. Understandably, there is growing unease for those still on unpaid leave. One engineer in DXB told me last month that we already have a handful of 380s being broken up for spares now and with the majority of the fleet having sat idle for over a year now, many have damaged cabin fixtures due to intense heat damage. It will probably take many working hours and dirhams to get these aircraft serviceable again. Storing them in the UAE has proved to be a disastrous decision.

I was made redundant a few years before I joined EK and I remember it vividly like it was yesterday. I have felt the same bewilderment and frustration at having questions remaining unanswered. But life has to go on and you cannot take it personally. To do so only limits your ability to move on and there is life after Emirates and as pilots, we have lots to offer the world outside of the flight deck. We all worked hard for our ATPLs and providing you keep them current, your licence will always be there for you when the industry picks up again.

[Oldaircrew]

14 6

Ha! I bet you anything EK management would have said “thank you very much, great idea” and culled the workforce afterwards anyway.

[14 6]

Spot on! Exactly what I have been saying all along.

[WB1900]

Eric Hartman

Seriously?

so why did Lufthansa classic, OS,Swiss Not Fire 1 single person ?
apperently you are another guy having a job and blasting about „guys go and move on“
WOW ? And yes I take it personal as there are guy left in the company who have not spend even half the time there. And yes I take it personal as a company has some responsibility towards employees and not bluntly lie to the media while sending out email and having a HR matrix running In the background while still assuring employees with hope for protection.
and yes they had a responsibility to consider a variety of options with less dramatic outcome, a path they not even closely considered to go.
i cannot wait to see the reports numbers which will for sure show how much useless their action have been

[WB1900]

Emma Royds

i like to ask a question
which qualification do have to offer for the non aviation industries?
or which of your skills might be useful from your point of view?

[14 6]

Well, you have leadership, situational awareness, workload management and communication skills.......that will come in handy in any industry.

[Emma Royds]

WB1900

An ex EK friend that left during the pandemic decided to do his MBA. One of the requirements for enrolling in the MBA course was that you had to have three years of experience in business management, which he didn't have. After he described his daily job at EK to the person from the university who was assessing his application, my friend was told he more than met the requirements of what was needed.

There are not many jobs where you are given responsibility for the safe and efficient running of a multi-hundred million dollar asset.

[nimrodjoe]

When are they shutting down this thread? I thought it was getting deleted? I think it should be done sooner rather than later.
It’s getting ridiculous. Can’t stand reading all the daft comments from 777 clowns who think they know how EK works and are experts in Asian aviation. Most of whom don’t have the ability to work anywhere else other than Asia.

[Eric Hartman]

Clowns? Really? I guess that is a very constructive discussion. Call everyone with a different point of view a clown and ask to close the thread. Great example of excellent communication skills....

WB1900, simply because EK is NOT a major unionised company if you haven't figured that out yet. They did what they had to do. Were you expecting to keep your job indefinitely with 90% of your fleet grounded? You did not come here to work for a major heavily unionised airline with a command prospect in 20+ years. You came here for a quick command, large widebody and to make quick money. Your intentions were far from altruistic when you joined.

[Xulu]

Emma Royds

LMAO. "Ok, we'll reluctantly take your $50k. Welcome to Sharjah University"

[WB1900]

Eric Hartman

wrong, went there because the airline I worked for was about to go bust, and did it a year later. Went because they actually contacted me after 6-7 years not even updating my first application.
i did not have Intension on a quick command in the first place - it was a well paid job with the benefit of maybe a quick command, and looked better than what I had on hands back home. It actually was a last choice, better than no job and only sh........ LCC offers.

I am not the guy swapping jobs easily - yes my mistake to trust these clowns and yes I expected a little more, than that Kind of Show - nevertheless I am not a union lover at all.

[WB1900]

Emma Royds

You did not really answer the questions.
Sorry, that’s to go to school again, it’s not a job. Wait until he has his degree and is applying for Job. The first thing they ask about is his expierence in the Field. Of course the MBA school will take him. I could join an Aviation MBA course after the years of flying with just a simple application but does not give u a job right a way.
I hold a degree in electronics and computer science but after 3 decades of flying they are outdated in terms of experience, therefore it does not count much. An Aviator holds nothing in hands to profile such jobs. I hope you are still an aviator and you don’t have to face the Reality of finding a none aviation job.

[WB1900]

Originally Posted by 14 6

Well, you have leadership, situational awareness, workload management and communication skills.......that will come in handy in any industry.

i totally agree that a pilot has exactly those skills.

In a non aviation Industrie these Skills are secondary Skills which benefiting your knowledge towards - whatever the Industrie does.
You have this skills based on your aviation knowledge not as an IT, Electronics, vehicle engineer, tax laywer, Finanz expert, or sales agent for industrial machinery
thes jobs require university degree which you not just simple get in the evening school.
if u have one these degree above mentioned skills push you definitiv forward in your career but, them alone does not make u valuable candidate for jobs, simple because you don’t have the profund knowledge of your new profession.

and pilots if asked about their skills are always giving exactly that answer, not one so far answered the question with a name of a degree. Yet alone this answer shows that you might be confident about these skills, but not confident about what to do with it outside aviation
Pilots not the only individuals with these skills, but mostly without any other up to date knowledge beside aviation. Pilots are highly specialized in aviation but that’s it.

[fatbus]

WB1900 , in that case all the best in your futher pilot endeavours. You might be surprised at some of your colleagues using their pilot skills to other uses and doing so rather effectively.
The horrible effects of this pandemic are not going to go away anytime soon. I think all will benefit from trying to be positive and supportive. Negativity will just wear you out .

[WB1900]

was not meant negative, more a fact check.

I would wish that these skills would have a much higher acceptance.
i agree that these skills are more than supportive and they are important
and some people selling themselves better than others, but my experience is very negative indeed because so far I was rejected for the mentioned reasons - missing the experience in the field.
now I try to do my own little thing.

there is an acknowledgement of the pilots skills but only as a top up to your desired job.

I had years of experience in none aviation jobs but just simple to far in the past.
i am happy for ever single person who gets his foot into a new door, but still I am convinced that the majority will have the same problem and I am also convinced that those people who made it have other job experience outside of aviation and are not new to what they are doing now. I might be wrong but the majority is in the field they where before as well. Some maybe had a good idea which they are following now but that’s only a few. So far I know only 3 guys who made a successful step into new adventures - the rest is pretty grounded.

[krismiler]

The sad truth is that if you’ve been flying for the last thirty years and are made redundant in your fifties, then your future career options are very limited. By the time normality returns you will be too old to justify the expense of retraining for a few years before retirement and too old to start over in another field.

Aviation skills are highly specialised and whilst some such as leading a team are useful, you are usually either over or under qualified when applying for a new job. Driving seems to be an area that unemployed pilots have moved into, everything from combine harvesters to busses to dump trucks and delivery work.

Under thirty, you can retrain, around forty and you’ll be picked up again when things improve. Cross the half century and it’s difficult, over sixty and it’s retirement.

[14 6]

Originally Posted by WB1900

Yet alone this answer shows that you might be confident about these skills, but not confident about what to do with it outside aviation

What I am trying to say is that you have been trained to think and react rationally under difficult situations. I am not suggesting you write down those skills on a cv and expect to get hired. I am rather suggesting you apply those skills right now to help you through these difficult times. Who knows what might happen! All of us are in some form of predicament under these current conditions. I just feel we must be able to somehow use those skills we have been trained in and apply it to life outside aviation.

[Emma Royds]

WB1900

Sorry if you felt that I didn't answer your question but I note in your earlier post that you mentioned qualifications and skills and I thought the example of my friend was a good example of how skills used in this job, can be highly regarded elsewhere to allow one to enhance their qualifications. Incidentally, his MBA has nothing to do with aviation.

If you feel your existing degree doesn't count for much and is outdated, have you asked yourself what can you do to enhance what you can offer a potential employer and increase your chances of employment? There will be former colleagues who are taking the time to upskill and develop any non-flying qualifications they may already have. Nowadays, it seems as if most career changes normally require some element of further training anyway, regardless of what is on your CV already.

I know it may seem like I am preaching from the comfort of a flying job but I have been made redundant before and I know it can be a lonely and frustrating experience.

[glofish]

• Stop comparing ME carriers with those in the EU. We’ll see that even the ones that were mentioned as example will start firing now: LH, SWISS, OS, etc.. I bet the nice "pay cut to keep all on board" will not be welcomed there either ….. It’s a cut throat industry across the board and no place for misunderstood socialism.
• If pilots really have those above average qualities we so much like to boast, then we should be quite able to readapt outside our industry. Or maybe we took our “sit back and relax” too literally? Or maybe our recent overall qualities have been diluted/recruited to lower standards and we no longer impress others that much? Pick one!
• After the initial shockwave of dismissals, i told my dear friend who was hit, that he might be somewhat lucky after all. Being retained on a ridiculous plan, with honestly only a small chance of getting recalled, might lull you into false hopes and fading chances of being able to move on. Plus the eligible spots out there will have been filled with those former colleagues! Reading the actual bitching on ppr, compared to the beginning of the catastrophe just seems to prove my point.
• Take the money and run, or wait silently for the eventual guillotine to fall or maybe not, but don’t point your finger at those who are still working. Three of them point in another direction.