It's official!

Up to 100 B737 MAX8's & 11 B738's totalling 111 Boeing 737's worth 11.4 billion USD.
Link

Not sure that Boeing REALLY wanted to say that....! Nice if it was true though ;)

Before Boeing changes it..

All #Boeing 737 customer @flydubai announces commitment for up to 100 777 MAX 8s, 11 737-800s

;)

Yes its official, 100 B737Max and 11 B737-800.
So there goes the dream of some people for Dreamliners or Neos or whatever else...
Given the 737Max's range, I doubt it would be able to go any further than the current 737-800. So It will be interesting to see where the airplanes will be flying to..:confused:

One can dream...:ugh:

A very disappointing announcement... basically they've opted for what might generously be described as yet another iteration on the re-vamping of the venerable B707 (yet without its range) and, speaking of which, the max ranges (when fully loaded) are detailed as: B737-800: 3,115 Nm / B737 MAX 8: 3,620 Nm, this giving an extra 505 Nm and / or 1 hour in a MAX.

I suspect that, with massive rises for goods & services in Dubai and (as yet) no corresponding increases in salary & allowances, a lot a folk will now earnestly be looking to take their skills elsewhere; because if one's going to be stuck flying the piece of crap that is the B737-800 then one might as well go and do it somewhere nice !

Are assessments still ongoing at the moment?

I thought I had read that all courses were full for the moment?

OKC,

How can a 111 new aircraft order be called disappointing?

Maybe you had delusions of bigger aircraft coming to flydubai to save you the hassle of changing employers and giving up your top 10% seniority???

Accept that you were hired by this company to fly a 737 and nothing else, and then you can come to work and go home a little easier.

Whole heartedly agree with your assessment though that many will be applying their skills elsewhere......including myself as seniority here doesn't amount to much as of yet.....but the company has nothing to fear as non-type rated candidates are filling classes as far out as next summer! Anyone expecting a pay increase or allowance adjustment should stop dreaming now :ugh:

No Sidestick for you!!!!! :{:p

While the MAX will not have the flight deck width/comfort of the comparable Airbus NEO, it will have some avionics enhancements vs. the traditional 737NG. It will resemble the 787 cockpit, but certainly not the spaciousness:

http://worldairlinenews.files.wordpr...t-boeinglr.jpg

I still believe larger aircraft would make sense at some point. Flying to Male and Colombo and perhaps some other leisure destinations could probably fill larger capacity aircraft.

How big is FD's pilot group currently?

long-gonner: the reason it's disappointing is that the B737 is stuck in a time warp. E.g. the picture that Iver has linked to doesn't show the overhead panel, and neither does it show the EICAS / ECAM system, nor the integrated digital data bus, and you have to wonder why not? Ah yes, now I remember, maybe it’s because Boeing can't fundamentally change the basic B707 design (which all 737's derive from) and therein include those elements, because then they'd blow the commonality with previous versions of the type? Aside, and without naming names, at least one of our fltops bosses was hoping for an order of 787's, so go figure?!

And, wrt 'bigger aircraft’? Na, been there, done that (and, trust me when I say, that flight times with double digit hours are tedium personified, as is living out of hotel rooms, and being jet lagged all to hell, imho). But I'll admit a side-stick would have made a pleasant change, if only to grab the rating and then foxtrot oscar with it, but hey ho and ah well, two buckets! ;)

Which brings me to my next question, what is the attrition rate like at FZ at the minute? If it's high where is everyone going?

Vortac, based on an article about FZ a while back, they apparently crew aircraft with 7 Captains and 7 First Officers, 14 times the current 33 aircraft on the books, I'd suggest 462 pilots, give or take a few.

I'm sure a current FZ pilot may correct me if I'm wrong!

OKC,
I totally agree with you wrt the MAX. If the NG is an old woman with a lot of make up, then the Max would be an older woman with tons of make up:).
The new aircraft given the backlog on the Max, will be here around 2020. Would you or I be here until then? Probably not! The :mad: bucket will be full by then!:ok:

Thanks flyer.

Tis a shame indeed that FZ didn't go down the Airbus route. Not that I prefer A specifically, but a flight deck more appropriate to 10 hour block days would have been nice :{

However, as for the NG vs A320, the MAX vs NEO will probably just go to show how little Airbus tech actually makes a difference to revenue. I know if I were a CEO, what the pilots would prefer wouldn't even be on my radar :bored: Neither would I want to pitch my recruitment resources up against Air Arabia!

I guess very the bottom of the bottom line was EK getting a sweet deal on the T7X as long as FZ kept Airbus at bay :hmm:

Still, first delivery will be what seven years hence? That is assuming FZ are at the back of three year queue starting back end of 2017, first MAX delivery 2020? If FZ went for the NEO, first delivery 2022?

Hill of beans :}

Interesting info here. More India flights being worked for Flydubai and a EK or FZ move to DWC by 2020 being discussed here too by Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group.

IMHO Flydubai will move to DWC first to make sure it is all up-and running smoothly and they can iron out all sorts of issues before the big guns arrive.

With both Flydubai and EK having a sizeable fleet they will benefit from eachother even more than today so any move will need to be well planned.

222 CFM engines also ordered. The article also mentiones the 737 MAX 9. So it's either one type of engine for the MAX 8 & 9 or they might be referring to our expected order breakdown.

Link

Like I said before, it's gonne be Flydubai who moves first to DWC with EK unlikely to move untill 2025.

Link

CTC selection process for FZ
 

Hi guys,
wanted some info on the CTC selection for FZ based on my situation.I went to Dubai for initial assessment early Nov. The interview invite asked us to cater for 2 days, for the assessment. Based on that I catered for 2 full days and was to travel back to my country on the third day. I passed day 1 screening, but the sim slot was shifted to day 3 and later. I was unable to stay at Dubai, since my visa, leave from my current employer etc. would have been an issue. I informed the CTC rep. about my difficulties in staying on, any longer for the
sim, to which I was told I could be planned at a later date. I returned to my country and after 4 days sent them a mail about a chance of a sim slot in the near future to which I haven't received any reply, a week and counting. Any advice or suggestions:confused:

I would say keep trying to get in contact with CTC directly. Do you have the name of whom you spoke with about your inability to stay for the sim ride? Give them a call. Also, did he/she tell you to get back to them or did they tell you "you'll hear from us" kinda deal?