777 or Airbus
 

Just got the email saying Congratulations on an Airbus ground school at EK. Was really hoping for 777 as the destinations and schedules sound better.. Is life on the airbus really tough? Any opinions appreciated..Could help make my decision a little easier.
Thanks

Avoid avoid avoid!!!! At all costs. Unless of course it is the Airbus "380" :p Then it's the best job around! However, ask for the 777 instead, you may get lucky. Good luck :ok:

Airbus or 777
 

Destinations on 777 are better but lots of hours. Airbus limited but less hours.

Whatever you get you'll be ok

Thanks !!
 

Really appreciate your input...Was hoping I wasnt going to get 100 emails BLASTING me from the pprune EK haters for contemplating the move over there!:D

Things are in place that will change things on all fleets but the airbus will see the most. Also things always change with the wind.

Take the Airbus , you may end up on the 380 within a year or you could be looking at the 350 before you know it.

Pays the same. This year Airbus got more vacation than the 777, next year. well that would be after 2 wind changes

Hold out for the B777.... Airbus side is complete crap. Schedules are RIDICULOUSLY BAD!! :{

Airbus side is brutal.
''Take the Airbus , you may end up on the 380 within a year or you could be looking at the 350 before you know it.''

There is absolutely ZERO possibility you would end up on the A380 within a year. NONE< NADDA< ZERO>AINT GOING TO HAPPEN!!!!!! That assertion is either meant as a joke or downright insane. I won't even get into the EK flight time requirements or heavy jet requirements. It is deceitful to pretend there is a possibility for a new joiner to go onto the A380, a year after their arrival......... even taking into account how things change here each day.

STAY away from the Airbus fleet if you can. Regardless of the 'probable' arrival of the A350 in 2014 (which apparently is now in doubt according to TC, who is the big cheese when it comes to things like aircraft procurement).

Airbus sucks at EK for more reasons than I wish to explain.

ps. yeah you are nuts to come here, haha.

How about being grateful to have a job, you are luckier than a lot of guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well how about my company being grateful for having experienced pilots flying their aircraft? How about a certain level of respect for our professionalism, which far exceeds each and every Managers abilities and knowledge when it comes to THEIR JOBS!!!

Being grateful for having a job?? You got to be kidding me! It is people like YOU who have destroyed this profession.

Thanks for that wonderful and insightful post, you putz.

Honestly, being grateful for having a JOB, when most of us have spent at least 20 years working towards being good pilots and good managers? You might be a simpleton, a company stooge or just someone who knows NOTHING about this job, but in any event, you might want to educate yourself after you delete that post.

Man, this world is full of people who have no excuse for being so uneducated, boggles my mind sometimes.

Hi lchristler,

Just want to wish you good luck with your choice.

Please read and re-read the many relevant EK posts and let us (and other potential recruits) know your thoughts after you have been here a while.

I hope that you won't be disappointed.

Safe flying.

Let me put it this way: I'm on the Boeing right now. If I were transferred to the Airbus for some reason, I'd quit.

Simple as that.

What experience do you currently have? If you have Airbus time you will likely get Airbus. Boeing time will yield the 777.

If you have the choice, pick the 777 fleet if you want to fly back to the States every now and then. Airbus will put you mainly in Middle East/India, Africa and some Europe.

direct hire FO 380 2011, mensa you are quick to over react, also a move underway to change roster pattens to help A330 , oh forgot you did not get that memo

Don't do it!
 

You will regret accepting an Airbus co-pilot position with Emirates.

The rosters and destinations are miserable. What's left of the decent layover trips are mysteriously "pre-assigned" so bidding means precious little, especially for non-management/non-training pilots. Your assigned trips are even poached because of "training requirements", so understand you are accepting the worst seat in the company now that the A310 has been parked.

When the A350's arrive they will likely migrate 777 skippers over to them as they are "proven" commanders, and you will be sitting on an ever dwindling, increasingly miserable fleet. 777 fo's will then get their upgrade, and you will wonder why you didn't listen to folks like Menso Boy as you ply the airways between Dubai and India (in the wee hours of the morning).

If you are stubborn enough to disregard the warnings you have read in other threads, and are determined to come to EK, hold out for a 777 slot. They'll call you back (especially since they've already paid your way to/from Dubai for the interview), and mysteriously one will appear as EK is desperate for bodies. The only need for 330 f/o's is to replace those Airbus fo's transferring to the right seat of the 380 (beginning cadets can easily fill these empty seats).

Don't be a pushover as this is the only time you will be able to negotiate for anything during your time at Emirates. Insist on the 777 slot, and play hard to get if it's not offered immediately. My guess is you'll be much happier if you do.

SHR

I'm currently on the 330 and will say this, you would be f...ing stupid to come here on the 330 fleet. As soon as we come off the long haul (Australia, starting with MEL in August) we will have nothing left. You will live life with 8-9 days off for a very long time. As 330 only (which you will be for at least a year) you will hate life. If my schedule goes back to what it was when I was in that position, I will quit. Hold out and don't except the job if they won't change you off the bus. You will be happier unemployed. Yes, the airbus is that bad!!! Now, on a bright note, not to be mean towards the Boeing guys, but I think everyone will agree that the guys on the bus are much more laid back and relaxed, especially in the training ranks. Note: the last sentence is an opinion, everything else is fact!

Icristler,

Congrats on the job! Would you mind sharing your thoughts on the assesments. I have an interview in about two weeks and would really appreciate your intel, since the whole recruitment process has changed somewhat.

I have P1 time on A320 and a good amount of P2 time on B767+DC10, which fleet would I be considered for?

Thanks and congrats again!

OW

By "proven" you mean having the ability to turn every destination that the Airbus previously went to without any problems into a potential fu**up. Damascus, Addis.........

Icristler, welcome to EK. Most of what has been said about Airbus rostering is sadly true. The pilots on that fleet make up for most of that though........as the quote above shows.

"Proven" Commanders and such...
 

Some clarification. All I intended to convey is that the company will more likely wish to transition an established (tenured) Captain over to a new airframe (the New Flagship of the Fleet mindset), and thus avoid the additional risks/costs/time required to upgrade an f.o.

For what it is worth, I don't believe there has been a transition training problem for Airbus Captains jumping over to the Boeing, so why not Boeing to Bus? Not so for the f.o. upgrade failure rate on the Airbus of late...

As to matters of personality and cockpit atmosphere, these things are intangibles that will ultimately matter little each month when you receive your roster assignments, and even less when you contemplate your seemingly terminal rank of Airbus co-pilot come each payday.

Jump on in... the water really is fine... but don't say you haven't been warned.

We eagerly await you here in Pilot Heaven....:E

SHR

But what happens when the 380 takes all the "nice" destinations and the 350 starts to replace the classic 777 and the 330/340? With the command requirements as they are now, would you still want to be on the 777 then? This will be the case for a new joiner now when command comes round right?

To try and pick a fleet here requires a larger crystal ball than is available on pprune I am afraid.

Good news is you will be treated the same and become just as tired on both fleets.

The Don

Just my 'Tuppence' worth......

We have approximately 20(ish) more 777's arriving over the next couple of years with several older ones being returned, so probably a net increase of 8-10 aircraft!

In around 4 years time, we will start taking delivery of between 70-120 (if options are taken) A350's, not to mention the 50 A380's that remain to be delivered. Despite the nonsense above, the NEW Airbus WILL be crewed by CURRENT AIRBUS pilots. If this means that an A330/40 F/O has to go RHS in it for 6 months before upgrade, this is how we will fill the left hand seat, and moreover the seat will initially be filled by CURRENT AIRBUS Captains, which will obviously leave a big deficit of skippers on the Airbus 'Classic', just right for A330 F/O's to fill.

You do the maths, its not rocket science to figure out that commands will dry up on the 777, and will suddenly explode on the Bus at about the same time as you qualify for upgrade!

Yes the routes are sh1t on the Bus currently, but you must understand that things change and it will certainly be swings and roundabouts..... 6-7 years ago, the 777 guys were moaning about their routes and time to upgrade, now its the Bus' turn. Soon enough, it will be the Boeing again!

Just think about it a little more deeply than 'what are the rosters like'.... Things change buddy, you need to look further ahead!

Good luck with your decision.