Days Off in a Row at EK
 

Has anyone else got a turnround screwing up their chances of commuting this month?

EWB

Obviously they want us to leave
 

Have seen the pattern. It has been going on for a few months now. February roster is a definite proof. 2nd from the top bid group, senior in EK, off day string awarded by system and manually raped with turnarounds. I also keep requesting couple of destinations, and cannot get them for the last 7 months. Looks like we have several layers of pilots in EK now. So, Feb roster out, RG letter in.

Airbus rosters getting seiously s**t again, back to the 'good' old days:{

Yep - same story as runkelj. String of days off at beginning of the month seeded with 3 turns.

Generosity has prevailed though, still have a few days off at end of the month - must be thankful.

Is it possible that the airline is so short of guys that they have gone back to the 'bad old days' of manual insertions?

I wonder how many guys they have on reserve and if they are using the successfully bid days off of non-reserve pilots instead of reserve guys to crew all the flying.

It would be a shame to ruin the rosters and still have 30 guys on reserve.

My roster would seem to suggest that this is so.

The airline does not want commuters face it. Theyre sorting the men from the boys, and there will be plenty of new pilots to take your positions if you dont like it and leave.
With a global recession looming dont expect a pay rise in april.

This is my worst roster ever!

To Ramboflyer
 

That is a little harsh are you possibly a management stooge to make such a statement! Wake up man! guys are allowed to vent their frustration without your this is the real world cr*p

Brgds

Allegedly the airline is not short of pilots at the moment but I guess it depends on how many you budget for and how many hours you get them to fly.

I am second top bid and senior. Asked for 5 days off before leave in mid month. I now have one day off before leave and then a turn around, another one set earlier in that block - what a poor show for a rostering system.

Wouldn't it be nice if the pre-ops people stopped messing with rosters and we got seniority based bidding. After ten years here most guys have had enough and, for a variety of reasons, would prefer to live at home. If the airline doubles it's size everyone in the company now will be senior and get the benefit. It would work for pseudo-bases as you'd get what you want as long as they stopped screwing with it. The managers could then offer bases to new joiners at a rate less than the cost of employing a pilot based in Dubai and give pilots the choice of staying on the current terms or leaving on a reduced package. New based pilots would have limited bidding and less benefits than Dubai staff.
To all those who will now say 'it's Dubai based, love it or piss off' and those that say 'it's great I'll stay here till retirement', good for you. I'm in my tenth year here, that doesn't leave many guys ahead of me and most of them would love to continue working for EK but need more flexible arrangements when it comes to where they live. Think of sick and old parents and family, secondary education, university and many others.

One way of seeing whether you have been Manually 'inserted' is to call EVITA and she will tell you about roster changes that are already on your printed roster.

EVITA gets given the unmolested rosters.

They scr:mad:d up my roster as well! Bid for 10 days off, according to Evita I got it and then they changed flights as they pleased, plus of course a turnaround exactly in the middle. What´s the purpose of the bidding system then when they manipulate like never before???
Will now look around for other airlines which respect and don´t f:mad: their pilots. RG letter already in the pipeline...

Straight talk; give it all.
 

I'm a potential EK New Hire (FO @ a major airline in US, 6 yrs w/ this airline, 9K flight hrs, 3300 737NG, married w/3 kids, eldest starts college fall '08).

Please give 10 brutally, true reasons why I should not accept an EK offer for employment.

Thank you.

1. No union
2. No rights
3. Terrible traffic
4. Terrible pollution
5. Not enough off days in a row to have a decent lifestyle
6. Biased laws
7. No consideration by EK management for pilots
8. No, absolutely no, jumpseats
9. Money not good enough anymore
10. ULR in EK will kill you over time

There are ways and means to get what you want. It doesn't take too much to figure it out.

Am happy with what l get 95% of most months including bottom bid group.

Good luck to you all.

halas

Hint: Generic/Days Off/Avoid Avoid Avoid

Mr. Sausage & Others,

How many days off per month are you getting, and where?

Are you on the Boeing or Airbus? Does it matter?

Is EK rapidly expanding? Does this wreck your lifestyle? Any end in sight?

Respectfully.

Jet's2small and others, Im in the same boat. Potential new-hire with EK. 8 and 1/2 years in with a major US carrier. Senior A320 F/O with a good schedule and not so great pay. And most concerning is the not so stable future of my airline, or any other US airline for the matter.

All I know so far is the pay is OK and tax-free and housing is paid for. I'm trying to weigh all my options, but I have no knowledge of length of trips(days in a row) or days off per month. So if anyone can tell me what a typical month is like at EK, ie.....anyone's typical month and/or trips,I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance........320

1. No union
2. No rights
3. Terrible traffic
4. Terrible pollution
5. Not enough off days in a row to have a decent lifestyle
6. Biased laws
7. No consideration by EK management for pilots
8. No, absolutely no, jumpseats
9. Money not good enough anymore
10. ULR in EK will kill you over time

1. Lot's of startups in the US have no union
2. See above, unless you are talking about being an expat
3. See NY, Washington DC, Boston, Houston, LA. Even crazies there too.
4. See 3 above.
5. Tell me an airline that does, especially new hires
6. Agree
7. Name ONE airline that does.
8. Agree, but for years after 9/11 in the US there was virtually no jumpseat with other airlines. Even your own was limited for awhile.
9. Again, tell me one airline that pays "good enough". If you say FedEx or UPS, they are still well below what some of the US majors were 7 or 8 years ago. Even though they may be the best now.
10. ULR at any airline will kill you.

I'll say it again, EK is like almost all major airlines around the world now. The good and bad. The whinning (or whinging or whatever) I see about the airline amuses me.....but Dubai? Some very accurate portrayals of life in the big city. There, is your challenge, in my opinion, not the airline.