Thanks a lot JJF!!! But I would suppose you're still to undergo a full UAE medical even if you hold a valid JAA class1, right??

I am thinking of coming to Emirates as a DEC as well. Can anyone tell me a few things about the life there. First of all I don't want to take another pilots job but I guess that is what I would be doing. I can justify it the huge amount of upgrades they are going to have in the short future. Having said that I would never attempt to DEC in the states because of the repercussions that would occur.
How are DECs treated at Emirates?
What do the First Officers think about DECs?
What do other Captains think of DECs? I understand that DECs make more money than the average line pilot.
I suppose this will get my feet wet and get a feel for the atomsphere at Emirates. Just by judging by the above posts it is a lighting rod of a topic.
Thank you in advance and Happy New Year!

...What do we think about DEC's at EK???
Flight International is also advertising for DEC's at KAL:E
It's a great opportunity to commute from your home country and not taking somebody's else job:{
BTW..Happy new year everybody
:yuk:

By taking a job at KAL won't I be taking someone elses job? It just won't happen to be yours I realize that. I know this is a touchy issue. As I said in my last post the US does not even allow this kind of issue to be raised because of the emotion it causes.
I have taken a 47% pay cut in the last 18 months. It is not fun to come to work anymore. Duty credit and trip rigs are going out the window with the pension soon to follow thanks to US Air and United. I am looking for a fresh start but not if I am going to be treated like a strike breaker.
I would like your thoughts on the issue and how the line pilots treat the DECs.

sorry nothing here

KAL is different, because KAL local pilots are the only ones being disadvantaged by DECs. KAL local pilots should have known that DECs would be hired because KAL has done that for the last 25 years.

The current F.O.s at Emirates were lured here with promises of upgrades in 18 months. Some have now been here for over 2.5 years without an upgrade in sight. When these F.O.s were hired DECs had not been hired by Emirates for over 10 years, so it is very different. The rules were changed mid-stream and that has severely dis-advantaged those who chose to leave good jobs based on what now can be considered empty promises.

EK management have dropped the ball in regards to this issue and need to realize that a mass exodus is in the offing. They think that hiring DECs saves them money because bean counters don't calculate what it costs to train a new F.O. Nor do they calculate the lost efficiency from the ill will that it creates among those who stay. Hire 50 DECs, lose 100 F.O.s isn't a good bargain compared to upgrading those F.O.s and hiring new ones.

In the long run the better alternative is to upgrade the existing highly qualified F.O.s and scrap the DEC idea altogether. Unfortuantely EK management have backed themselves into a corner and will need to hire DECs just to man the expansion.

To answer your question though, DECs are generally not treated too bad. Only when they are clearly incompetent and unfit for the job do they get a lot of grief. EK have made the mistake of hiring some in that category, but I think the qualified ones like the job.


Typhoonpilot

New Tomcat

Don't worry. You definitely won't be considered a scab here. It's an entirely different deal. I don't particularly like the pheonomenon, but DECs are a fact of life at EK given the rapid rate of expansion. Everyone needs to feed his family. Don't be put off by malcontents like LHR Rain. He just joined EK yesterday and doesn't even qualify for upgrade by EK's criteria. When FO's actually start having their upgrades deleyed by DECs then I feel they will have something legitimate to complain about. Right now, it's the perception of a problem rather than an actual problem. "Normal" upgrades on the Boeing are running at 3 years at the moment, and the Airbus is about 3 years 3 months. I really don't see what the big deal is. You have a few very spoilt guys here who feel that the world owes them something, but by and large, you'll find the guys here are a great bunch to fly with, DEC or otherwise.

Yardman

Thanks for the answers. Typhoon you metion that only the incompetent pilots get grief at the airline and I assume that is from the mangement pilots. How do the line pilots treat or act around the DECs that are competent and buy the first round on layovers?
Say what you will about LHR guy but he does have a point and I realise that point. I saw first hand how the Continental pilots were treated in 1983 and it was not pleasant. No I was not one of those pilots that crossed the picket line but happened to be living in IAH at the time.
Thanks again

As I mentioned before all DEC`s are very welcome here in emirates. I joined EK 2,5 years ago and was treaded very warm and very welcome. 99% of all FO`s I was flying with were great guys and they dont blame you. Only a few guys with pyschol problems like LHR Rain are trying to spoil your fun but its ony a few out of 200.

I can recommend EK. Its a great company to work for. I am very happy.

:E Please don't get me wrong Tomcat.
If I was in Your position I'd do the same:ugh:
When I joined EK I knew about the possibility of DEC's,so I can't complain now.
I'm pretty sure You're a great guy to fly with and I really wish U all the best for the interview:ok:
Happy new year!

DEC, do not worry!
 

Gents,

DEC's need not worry about the effos. They are generally a very professional bunch with loads of experience. The experience they have is sometimes the root of the problem they have with DEC's. Imagine how frustrating it must be for a 2-3 year EK F/O to fill in the gaps from the Emirates training systems line training.Short courses for DEC's with regional experience only on A320's or even MD-80's doesn't work very well in the dark skies of Kenya or Pakistan... When the last bunch of DEC's came through on the Airbus many effos told me horror stories about their sudden upgrade to Line Training F/O...

Another problem was the obvious nepotism at work when some of the Arabic Brethren were hired from GF. Oh, you failed the sim... Don't worry here's another go! Shabang, you were successful my friend!

The recruitment itself was not very successful the last time we took DEC's;

One guy had to leave after it was discovered he had been flying airplanes for an individual named Os@ma Bin L.

Another one could never be released without a safety pilot. He just couldn't land an airplane... Well done recruiters.

A third guy was a training Captain for an African Airline with a good reputation. He couldn't pass the PPC, so EK made him an F/O...

The fourth had to go back to his Far Eastern country after being unable to pass the training.

A fifth guy from North America were telling people he was hired as a DEC because the F/O's in Emirates were not competent enough to be upgraded.

Anyway, an experienced DEC can expect to fly with excellent F/O's that operate in a professional manner.

HNY,

Pork:cool:

Not to mention more than a little bitter and twisted. Great for CRM eh!

OPEN DES

:mad:

TP
Are you suggesting that it's ok for KAL local pilots to be disadvantaged!!:confused:

I think DEC all along is WRONG! Period.. VERY WRONG

Hi fellows,

do you guys think that DEC´s are a problem? I don´t know, if this job has been offered to you I am pretty shure each of the most "crying" would have taken it without any problems, so why "opendes" should not???
By the way beeing promoted is not only a question of flight time, at my point of view...there should be matched some other factors too.
In my years as Cpt. I had some high experienced FO´s who where really dangerous, believe me.

But I do agree very much on the experience with you, flying a 737, A320 or an MD80 does not qualify you much for flying longhaul ops, but if the Sheik want to expand his business on this risk it must be a question of making millons...we are just the drivers.

Happy new year.

EK selection and interview prep.
 

Good morning and happy new year to all aviators and fellow pilots

I would greatly appreciate any recent info on EK pilot interview if anyone has gone through it recently, and if the information on the book that is published with emiratesinterview.com is the same as preparing for emirates interview by capt xyz.

Thanks for all the help.

Re: Latest EK selection news
 

Well not all of them were. Most were told the policy is a minimum of 3 yrs as FO. Some of the others were told they could leap-frog the 3yr FOs in only 18 months IF they had some command time.

Now these DECs are told they can leap-frog everyone else and the accelerated guys who are to be promoted in 18 months are not happy about it???? Tough sh!t.

With friends like pilots, who needs enemas.

Re: Latest EK selection news
 

Open desc and New Tomcat,
DO what is best for you,don't worry about some posts here,some guys don't have the experience needed to be DEC or capt so they start to complain a lot.
Iam a dec (not Emirates) and 99,99% of the f/o know the company's need for capt's.I repeat do what is best for you and your family.No f/o will have the nerve to disrespect you.
Best luck to you all.Fbwdude

Re: EK selection and interview prep.
 

flycaptain,

I bought both as I wanted all the information possible. They are equally good. They are different in that XYZ has more information on airline stats and emiratesinterview.com has some stats but focus's more on the specifics in the interview, like the scoring structure and how your interview questions are based on the pych test, etc. There is also more specific "contract offer" and information in great detail in the new book.

I am leaning more towards the recent emiratesinterview.com and I downloaded it instantly. There are also great tech books out their for the tech exam that I bought too.

Good luck, and PM me if you like,
AM

Re: Latest EK selection news
 

Till now I had no problems with FO`s at all. As I said they are very respecfull and we enjoy flying.

Only a few unhappy incompetent guys are trying to destroy the good reputation of EK.

So dont listen to these guys.

And all the others will get their upgrade very soon. BEcause they deserve it.