The costs of living here in Dubai
 

Look I know its a rumour site and people should not quote facts, but some people are actually looking for information on this web site.
As I hear how hard up people are, I stumble to the off licence at Silicon amongst 500 families who have brand new 4 x4's on the drive (some have 2!) , quad bikes, boats, and trailers, hot air baloons and motocross bikes and as I peek inside I see the worlds biggest TV's on the wall as the taxi pulls up to take them down town for a night out.
Electronic toys spill out everywhere and the kids wear designer kit round the pool.
Two guys today have just made 1.5 million on an investment off -plan (in 18 months) and are about to do the same. One of them is changing seat on the 777 after 18 months here.
It gets hot, it is sandy sometimes and we do night flights. But as far as pay goes (and the hot rumour is 11 weeks tax free pay) it is difficult to see a hard up family group living in the totally free, serviced utility free houses here!:ugh:

Few years ago i did a mistake. I left a secure first world job to come over here.
At the time I was coming to Pprune asking information. Ther was a post from this guy about how he fas feeling sorry for this new hire he saw in the Aviation college with his badly tailored new uniform his oversized and goofy shirt walking sadly on the corridors with a yellow bag full of books probably asking him self what the fukuk he was doing there.
Well I just had the same feeling...the same view and sensation..yesterday.
Emirates and Dubai are just appearance,nothing else, but at a certain point you start to see the truth and you wake up and you see the ugly bitch you slept with.
Stay away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So leave if its so bad!:D

Pinhead
 

1. It varies from as little as 12 hours to several months depending on your qualifications and their needs. if you have well in excess of the minimums with international wide body time, then expect a call pretty fast.

2. Yes at least in the past they allowed you to stay longer in Dubai at your expense if you wished to sightsee a bit (a good idea btw). The hotel used to give the emirates corporate rate as well, though best to arrange it well in advance.

Jet,am with you here.

I cant understand it too...so many guys/gals rant and whine, but still stay on.

Perhaps its a question of making it look bad for the outsiders so that can bring their buddies from all the all over the place to come join them under the big ole sun?

Or, slow the recruitment down to force the company to improve their package?

Dubai is far from perfect, no doubt about it, but to each his/her own and you have to come in with your eyes open. If you make a mistake and the life is not the one you want, feel free to admit it and move on. No one will think lesser of you.

To continue to stay, and then whine and whine, well, what can I say?

Herein lies the problem ........


There is no airline or company in the world that l know that will pay you enough to have such luxuries and l think EK ain't an exception ! I think people are under the impression that you must live like a rockstar once you get to Dubai. The temptation to borrow is very high because the banks in the Middle Easy have a wad a cash to throw at you when you join. Some give you credit cards for almost every member of your family if you want. The crunch comes when it's time to settle at the end of each month. Don't blame inflation or Dubai..............live within your salary and avoid borrowing as much as possible, invest, buy a smaller car, there is no hard and fast rule that you must buy a 4 x 4 when you move to Dubai. ;)

If your salary cannot meet your BASIC needs, then l think a change of profession beckons.............:p

It's pretty pathetic that the standard assumed to measure quality of life is the amount of toys one can accumulate using borrowed money.

:yuk:

Consumerism in Dubai is like any other diversion such as alcohol or the rampant bed-hopping...a way to numb the mind from the reality of the sandpit...

It's a city without a heart, a soul or a conscience. If you can overlook that and simply want another 4x4 then hey, it's the place for you!

I think there are very few of us who didn't go through some sort of "toy phase" on first arriving in the Sandpit. We all went out and bought some luxury that, in all probability, we would never have bought back home. (Mine were [both "cutting edge technology" at the time], a fax machine and a Casio organiser. Hoo Harr!! Oh, and a second hand **** Range Rover, which broke down on my wife every time I went away on a trip and turned out to be a very costly mistake.)

Some would say there's little harm in allowing yourself a toy phase. However, the cruncher, in my opinion at least, (and which very few seem to feel needs to be added), is "if you have the funds to cover the buy".

Over the years, I've been amazed at the number of newcomers to EK who arrive and buy, immediately, or within a very short time of arrival:

- the grossly overpriced membership to a club (Less so since the advent of the excellent EPC, thank you Mike and others, but there are still those who simply have to be full members of the 'right' club.)
- the stink boat
- the sailing boat
- the brand new top of the range 4X4 and/or the luxury sports car
- the wave rider
- and lately, the London-priced megavilla
....and all on borrowed money.

Unions or pilots associations are frownd on in EK (to put it mildly). Whether it's right or wrong, the only weapon (or weapons) a pilot has at his (and lately her) disposal should he/she feel aggreived have five toes on the end of each of them. People who get themselves into huge debt buying toys, (and those who get tied into a large mortgage now that you can't make an overnight large profit should you sell your property), are robbing themselves of that one weapon. I know of any number of Flight Attendants who would be gone from Dubai tomorrow but for the fact that they have a crushing credit card bill they're unlikely to repay in years. I suspect there might be more than a few FO and Captains in similar situations.

To get back to the subject of the thread. Yep, I know one who's happy. I'm going to his farewell ding in a few nights from now. :):):):)

Thankfully being crew the company lets you keep your passport, if the debt is too much you can always pax home and not come back.

Jet999

You might have touched a nerve, agreed. But your posts suggest some level of ignorance on a few issues. Just one little remark:

My 4x4 here costs the same money as a VW Passat back home. Hardly a luxury car for our income bracket.
Having experienced the drivers around here, no sane brain would criticise any one to opt for a sturdy 4x4. It sort of moves away from a simple toy.

Rabbit wear...why pax home? That costs money. You can always operate, and get that final little white envelope (unless it's MRU of course!):D

"so leave if it's so bad"
 

a.k.a. censorship

Jet, you made an interesting post, voiced your opinion. Then you gave the above abrupt advice to someone else who voiced theirs! I don't mean to be dramatic about it but the right to express different opinions is considered inherently healthy in many societies - those societies whose passports are in big demand by the citizens of countries such as those in the Middle East.

The pilots at EK are here for various reasons. I have learned a lot from listening to the people I have worked with and realized in the process that others' circumstances are often a world away from mine. I mentioned in a previous post that 'safety' was the big issue for several from Central/S.America - big surprise to me because from my perspective, Dubai represents the opposite. So if I express a 'happy/unhappy' with Dubai opinion I like to try to put it into a context understandable to a bigger audience than I might previously have considered.

I have a colleague who feels comfortable with the driving experience here. I feel the opposite. When we bought our vehicle we gave primary consideration to crash tests, airbag curtains etc. Therefore an SUV is often a 'need' not a luxury. In my driving experience before Dubai I never had as much as a dent in my car or self. In my time in Dubai I've had two 'hits' from others - I got the green paper from the police (to those of you not familiar, the police apportion blame at the scene and give you a green paper if you are not at fault).

There was an FO from the UK who was one of the first to buy property in Dubai. He bought what most of us would consider a mansion and made a lovely home for himself. He told me that he financed it largely from the sale of his house (and other possessions) back in England. People like him made money on real estate in Dubai and good luck to them for being risk takers/good business people whatever you wish to call them. Some would argue that the real estate market here is flattening or peaked but there are many of our colleagues who did well in the window of opportunity. Real estate is not part of the EK package - I think it is a mistake to mix the incomes of the two.

If you get all the people who think it is bad at EK to leave then you will have a nice homogenous group. That sounds a little bit Orwellian.

I know I may have overdone it on your remark but too often it is used by those who don't wish to understand that others have a different experience and may not have any choice but to be here - their sentiments may help others make what is by any measure a huge decision.

BTW. If ever a remark was made to suit a place, "Money can't buy class" is so appropriate to Dubai.

... as stated/ or better "assumed" ..

"Two guys today have just made 1.5 million on an investment off -plan (in 18 months) and are about to do the same. One of them is changing seat on the 777 after 18 months here"

I think, that's pretty much over by now - and if it really was such a good investment don't forget to SUBTRACT some 35-40 % inflation from those excellent "gambling return" - if you want to transfer your sandy-investment into one in the first-not so racist-and greedy world back home;
as a matter of fact people/ colleagues are now starting to LOOSE real money on their investements - 'specially in the Marina aerea - due to massive over-supply, crappy building quality, exploding utility costs (Water& eletricity will be up som 30 percent alone this year ..)
and many Airbus F/O are still being shafted, sitting over 4 years on the right, seeing more DEC from the third world takin' their positions - disgusting !!!:ugh:

sorry to say, but the (not only real estate) boom is pretty much over here - just some didn't realize it yet - and when they finally sell, the loss is even greater!
Massive Inflation takes it's toll on the gamblers out there - and the last ones/ will/ have to pay the prize for it!
Read the "populistic-governement-censored-propaganda-Gulfnews" - even they state a massive exodus of qualified expats inevetibly to come, due to sinking live qualities, ridiculous rental prices, highest lung-cancer rate/ worldwide/ for kids, awful traffic with gruelsome fatalities - the list goes on & on ..:ugh: bsically it's mostly "smoke & mirrors here" - very few qualification & qualitiy to find in most areas ... it's a "massive & superficial Show.Off here - which many/ like me/ can't stand anymore - the place here is outright ridiculous - just wait for the Disneyland-like-Eiffeltower to come.
also they had twice to stop the building of the Burj, as it's starting to tilt, massive erosion& corrosion problems on the palm / ecósystem on the shoreline changed - the water-biosystem deteriorating - worse to come ..:eek:

Just wait after profit share announcement - there will be a minimum (!) of another fitiy-ish resignments rightaway, which are written already - ready to be faxed off - plus hundreds of stuffed cabin-crew- who "just had it" ..

Dubai has seen its best years - that's a fact !:sad:
and as stated - true Dubai has lots of investment money, but lacks class for sure!:=

So who is going on the 380 then?:ok:

Gloom and doom for Gulf staff
 

I am doing cartwheels in-between keyboard strokes. Very happy at EK.:ok:

Hello. In May 25th???
It Will Be Nice To Have A Beer in dubai

Hi,

For interests sake, what are the requirements for the so-called "accelerated" command? Cant seem to find abything about it, does it even exist??

Hi flamingmoe,

I was told during my interview that the accelerated command was for candidates with at least 8000hours total, 4000Jet>55tonnes and at least 1000hours in command on jet a/c>55tonnes...

If anyone else has any other info please post...

cheers

Are they taking many guys on the B777 at the moment, there was only one guy on my interview who was going for DEC. He got it! The DEC requirements are still 8000 TT so those accelerated minimums seem high.
I've heard that they want wide body time now for DEC, any info on this anyone?

The very best of luck to all who are joining up, I hope it works out great
for you.

Can anyone tell me if you can get a job with Turbo Prop hours only. I've heard of guys supposedly getting in without jet time, but with Turbo Prop command time.

EK interview result
 

During the EK selection process we were told to expect a result in about 4 to 5 weeks after the process. I am waiting 6 weeks now without knowing anything.

My thought is that if they would decide not to hire me, they could tell me so. Why wait so many weeks?

Does anyone know about the EK policy on this matter?


Cheers,

Dumper

Just finished an interview myself...
 

They told us last week that we could expect notification anywhere from 2-6 weeks but they'd be more likely to notify us in 2-4 weeks. Everything I hear is that you will probably know when your references get checked that something is up.... positively up....

Lifdumper,

Some guys don't even get their references checked until 8 weeks after the interview, yet still get hired, so don't give up hope.

The fact you completed all three days means you'll most likely be offered a position.

Of all the guys on my interview, I was the first offered the job. However I am not the first to receive a contract!

MGC

Liftdumper,
no news is generally good news in cases such as this. Have they checked your references?
The normal procedure is that if you are successful they will contact you and offer you a course start date all at once. Until they have you 'marked' for a particular transition course (based also on the notice period you told them at the interview and EK requirements) you might have to wait a bit. :ok:

In our group 9 (out of 10) made it to day two (and three)... 5 got offered jobs.

We were told that we would hear in 6-8 weeks maybe even as early as 4 weeks after the interview. I had to wait 9 1/2 week for my answer :ooh:. They then gave me a start date and the aircraft :}. Contract will arrive in the mail once you say yes to the job.

Best of luck! :ok:

References Checking Started
 

I finished up my interview on Wednesday, May 7th, and they made contact with my first reference today, May 12th. Seems awfully quick....

For us, we had 13 guys start on Monday and 10 got the call to continue on for Wednesday. Will try and keep things updated as I hear more info...

is there any regular procedure how and who they pick. I interviewed, made it through all 3 days, but have not had my references checked. day 3 for me did not go to well. I had some guys in my group who got their references checked 72 hours after they were back home. I have not heard any such thing. I just think ,if they know who they want 72 hrs later, would they not know who they DO NOT want and notify him/her? It is just painful to wait, again, would'nt you think they know after the group went through their process, who they like to hire and who gets the notice that they did not make it.? I do not know if they tried to check my references, I have heard that sometimes the mail gets stuck in the spam folder and nobody checks there.Will they tell you if they had a hard time to get answers from your references?

Signal-

From my understanding, which is severely limited, they can take months to get ahold of people's references. The amount of time it takes them to check with certain applicant's references can vary on a lot of things. It might be how long you said you needed to start work (I said 5 weeks). It might be what airplane they are staffing for now (I'm a Boeing guy I would assume). It could be by a ranking in the class by last name or how well you did.

Just the fact that some guys are 6-8 weeks out and still getting the call for a job tells me that their process has its own way of happening. Don't get discouraged or too anxious. I personally felt that my Panel interview was terrible and I was surprised they even called me back after my sim!

When did you interview exactly?

last week of April. The boeing Guys ( the ones who flew the boeing with me in the sim and made it past day 2) all had the references checked just 3 days after they were home, meaning we would probably be in the same plane...then, one of the guys had the same time for notice as I had ( 4 Months) and again his were checked already , mine have not. So it seems that they know who the wanted, just have not told me its over. But I will wait until it is certain. But thanks for the help

I still wouldn't be so sure. Last week of April is only a few weeks ago. Normally it takes 6-8 weeks. I am a Boeing guy but flew the A310 sim. A 4 month wait to be hired could definitely slow things down I would think... I don't know that, just guessing.... Keep the faith!

I interviewed in mid April, along with 8 others, three of us I know of got the offer 3 weeks later.

Signal,
I don't want to be a downer, but the majority of the time if you don't get your refernences checked within the first week or two its a no go. I was in the exact same scenario you are in, made it through all three days but felt my panel interview sucked... come home and wait for the refs. to be checked and then two and half weeks later the dreaded thanks but no thanks email came. There is hope though, I have spoken with people who had to wait almost 6weeks for their refs. to be checked and were offered a position. So you never know. Good Luck!

3 weeks and counting for me nothing heard..................!

just got a strange mail from Emirates group advising me about my application and telling me there is a roadshow in the USA and that they are looking desperately for pilots. Does that mean they want me to re-interview.......:(. Would you not think they know I interviewed, does the one hand not know what the other does..?

Signal,
Ek has some strange procedures regarding all the Selection program.
I was invited to be on a screening in May/2006, could not make it and my application was forgotten until I got an e-mail from them on January/2007, giving me 6 months to improve my english!!
To be invited to a screening, being from a non-english spoken country, I had to answer some questions by phone, and I did all right, because the invitation arrived one day after my phone interview.
After almost an year of refusing the invitation, comes the "english" e-mail!!
And then, on this February, I got a new invitation to do the Selection Program!
I talked to some friends of mine that work to Ek and they said that sometimes those kind of misunderstanding happens, because Ek have a lot of applications to work on.
There is no standard procedure as how they process the applications after you have done the Selection Program.
As long as you do not get the "No, no thanks" e-mail, you are still in.
I was there on April too, and I'm still waiting.
Best regards,
SF

There is always the possibility that the current relocation to the new HQ building is holding things up

thanks again for all the insight. I still don't understand that it takes EK sometimes 3-4 weeks to deny you, however they know after a few days whos reference to check. maybe its equipment, maybe notification, I guess there is no specific reason. I would just like to know sooner than later if they don't pick me so I can move on.....

Well, I guess no news is good news for the moment.

Hi, and just a reminder for all those who are applying. Some of the stories doing the rounds at the moment, about how (a few) applicants present themselves are nothing short of amazing.
Just beacause EK is short of pilots and needs a lot of pilots, does not mean they will lower the standards.....please do not treat the interview process as a forgone conclousion....nothing could be further from the truth.

I do not think anybody is expecting to get hired just because the made it to day 3. I believe they are just discussing how the notification process works. I think it is not to much to ask for to be notified if you did not make it in a "reasonable" time frame, for me 2.5 weeks now and Nothing heard in regards to reference check.....