Recruiting is as a result of fleet expansion. There is a program underway to upgrade the existing FOs to command with a number already having completed the upgrade training. Yes, the intention is for the operation to be all-Captain.

As far as I know, there is no company accommodation on offer. You will need to find your own. At the moment, there are some good compounds such as Al Fardan Gardens where the 4 bed villas are 15000 per month. Reasonable but not flash compound villas run at around 12000 per month. There are some more and also some less expensive.

Be advised that with schooling, the allowance generally does not cover secondary schooling and only just covers primary schooling at most (but not all) schools. You will find that with kids in secondary school that you may end up paying up to 25000 per year per child out of your own pocket to make up the shortfall. This situation is currently under consideration by the company with a view to increasing the schooling allowance, but dont expect this to happen. Run your sums on it not happening then if it happens, it's a bonus.

For the sums, how much should I add to cover utilities for a 4 bed villa?

Water and electric at my 4 bed villa averages out to about 450 QAR a month over the year. Obviously less per month over winter as you're not using air-con, then rises over the summer.

My yearly average agrees with 360BakTraks. The utilities allowance covers this usage level.

Last few questions:

* may the school allowance be used for kindergarten?

* the package on page 1 of this thread does not show a utility allowance, is that part of the package?

* what's the range of the A319/A320, not sure if these aircraft have non-standard approved weights & fuel tanks. Any destinations that you tend to fly to more than others?

* is this the type of job & location only suitable for someone without a job, or could it be well worth leaving a stable job for? I know it depends on the person etc etc, but perhaps someone can give me a general indication. My family would be quite happy in a hot climate in an expat environment, but we only know Dubai and have never been to Doha.

The school fees allowance commences when the child achieves 4 years of age. It covers tuition fees only (not capital fees or other add-ons that some schools have). The British system schools here start with Nursery, followed by Reception then Years 1, 2... Generally, kids turn 4 in Reception so that is when the allowance starts.

There is a separate utilities allowance.

The A320 family have ACTs fitted so range is a shade over 3500nm. Destinations are worldwide but Europe, Middle East and Africa are common.

This is not a job you apply for as a last resort. If you want to move to the Middle East to take advantage of the tax free environment and are happy to be on call 24/7, then this is the type of job which you would pick over any of the airline jobs. You need to ask yourself, why do I want to leave my current job? The move to the Middle East is a major undertaking and lifestyle change. Do you want to put your family through that? How long do you want to spend in the tax-free environment before you might want to go home? What will you be able to do job-wise when you want to move back home? Is it worth leaving a stable and secure job to pay the house off in 5 years (or whatever) but then have difficulty being able to move back and live in it? etc, etc...

Most of us are here because we wanted to save more money than we were doing at our previous jobs. I personally feel that I would rather be doing what I am doing than being with EK, QR or any airline in the region for that matter.

We have pilots here that have come from stable and reasonably secure jobs in Europe that seem to be happy with the move. They are certainly saving more money and are enjoying the lower flying rate than at their previous LOCO carrier.

Again, I stress that you should have a good think about why you want to move from your present job before considering this option. If you decide that the move is for you, then I think this job is a good one.

Cheers,

Amiri01

Amirio1 thanks for all the great info. Do you know how many pilots they are looking to hire? Are there any americans flying for the company?

We are preparing for the arrival of additional aircraft but I do not know the figure for recruiting. I'm guessing around 20 extra pilots but I could be way out there +/- so don't quote me.

We have some North American pilots but not many, probably because we have very few apply, rather than for any other reason. I understand there may be a few undergoing screening later this month.

flight security
 

hi amiri01

did you manage to get the information regarding flight security officer ????

Amiri screening
 

Hi,
Does anyone have any information for the Amiri screening for Captains? I would be very grateful . Thanks :ok:

Sorry Keith, I was not able to make contact with my contact in the Security Department. I am away from Doha for around another week but I'll check it out when I get back and let you know.

Cheers,

Amiri01

The education allowance communicated to me is 90.000 with a max of 30.000 per child per year which is less than the max 40.000 quoted per child on page 1 of this thread. When doing the sums i would have to allow for another 60.000 per year for 2 kids out of pocket for most schools, could anyone shed any light on this?

Has anyone been to the assessment in Frankfurt of late?

Comanche, you are correct about the schooling. If you have two high school kids, then you could well be QR60,000 out of pocket each year for their schooling. If you have 3 in high school, then you could be QR90,000 out of pocket. This definitely needs to be factored in to your calculations.

The package figures and breakdown that are quoted on Page 1 of this thread are from 2 years ago now and are well out of date. The package is much better than indicated there.

Some recent overhauls of the package have now introduced dental insurance, medical insurance that includes a maternity benefit and a much improved loss of license benefit.

Cheers,

Amiri01

Amir01, is there any way to insure against sicknesses beyond 14/28 days as after this time your pay goes down to nil? I am healthy, but one never knows, say an illness that lasts 6-12 months?

Also, what's the call-out time at base and away from base? Can the wives go out and do stuff and leave you with the kids?

Commanche, as far as I know, there is no decent income protection or scheme to look after you in that situation. The company Loss of License insurance has a very small monthly benefit for temporary loss of medicals but I do not have the details to hand (perhaps 1% of the total benefit per month and I cannot recall when it kicks in).

Callout is maximum 2 hours from callout to off chocks, regardless of where you are. So in Doha, if your wife can get back home to mind the kids in 1 hour, then you stand a chance of getting to the airport with enough time to prepare and get aboard. Away base, you do what you can within the constraints of this requirement, so in London for example where we stay downtown and getting to the aircraft from the hotel can take well over an hour, we generally stay within 30 or so minutes of the hotel.

Cheers,

Amiri01

Amiri01, thanks. That all sounds reasonable, the kids would be at school most of the day anyway. Little more restrictive out of base to explore the surroundings, guess you can't go on a half day safari in Africa but at least you don't spend too much money that way. Hope I will be called forward soon for a selection.

Further to my last, there are times when you can "risk" going out exploring. Sometimes, our passengers are at a destination to attend a specific function and you know with a fair degree of certainty that you are unlikely to get a callout until at least a certain time.

On my last trip to Beijing for example, I took a taxi from my hotel in the centre of the city out into the countryside around 1.5 hours to visit the Air Museum (very interesting BTW). So you can occasionally have some flex to safely explore further afield than the 30 minute limit. You just make sure you have a contingency plan i.e. arrange with the other pilot to collect your kit from your room if there's a callout and meet them at the airport etc.

It's not necessary to sit around your hotel all the time.

Cheers,

Amiri01

Comanche, what about APPM for temporary LOL?

Birdy

Birdy, I was already looking into that. Need to check if the territory includes the ME. But that may definitely be a solution. Thanks