Who ever managed to sell a stupid idea like this to Emirates in this highly competitive market, for such a long time must be very very good

Why, thank-you - you are altogether too, too kind.

My old airline received a new airplane every 10 days for almost 3 years. We hired over 4000 pilots in 6 years time and never had to compromise training or even think about DECs. They would have had their legs broken anyway if DECs came on the property.
Why do some pilots think with this "huge" delivery schedule we have to hire DECs at Emirates? We have plenty of qualifed and deserving FOs already on the property.
It is not a big deal to upgrade the FOs already here and hire new FOs to take their place.
150 DECs will delay the upgrades for the FOs here by at least 1 1/2 years.

Command upgrade...what upgrade? Came out 5 years back with an expectation of a return to the LHS in 3 years. Have been screwed by so many rule changes that I believe that I might be eligible for a shot after 8 (eight) years! This is actually the reality for many here in EK. (12000 hours plus and a decade in command previously, BTW, albeit in a/c below 55 tonnes). Not getting any younger, either, so might be needing to rethink my career plans......

I was driving two days ago around 1800 and heard on the news (92.0FM): "Emirates Airline will start hiring Captains instead of upgrading First officers from within the company" (or something among those lines) followed by some words of Katherine Ferguson saying that the reason is because of the slow down in hires during the 2008 crisis bla bla bla.

I wonder how come this is news for anyone that is not in EK, or maybe a secret message to all of the UAE skippers? lol.

Happy trails

Good post LR3.

It ain't all bad, but all that glitters isn't gold.

CAVEAT EMPTOR :ooh:

Or even glisters:D

Millerscourt,

Don't let this retirement gig dull your mind. Willy was only misquoting Tommy Becon's earlier "All is not golde that glistereth" when he used that line filler. Tommy writes about Rome, Willy comes out a few decades later with some tale about Venice. No wonder everyone was waiting for TV to be invented.

Sorry for the distraction, back to DECs etc etc etc.

The Don

The Don

Perhaps you should be renamed The Prof?:cool:

Anyway back to DEC as suggested by The Prof. I have been one in three outfits and I can thoroughly recommend it. Has never worried me what any F/O might think about it as most blame the company and not the individual DEC.

Prioritising?

Same hoops as the rest so I hear:bored::bored: At least the ex-EK skippers...

It looks like you have to be a moron to join EK, be it as a DEC or FO.

And lets face it, the requirements to get an ATPL have declined dramatically over the last 15 years.

If you stay in a airline that treats you like **** .... chances are that you are a piece of ....

xwind--I think most, reasonable, people would agree with you!!

In the end the discussion about DEC's has to be more specific. A DEC coming off a 777/330/340 should be able to transition fairly easily. He knows the aircraft and only has to transition to new SOP's, EK highly variable route network and the multitude of nationalities that he will work with (which can be challenging).

While I don't like the idea of DEC's and, as a captain, it doesn't affect me I hope they bring in experienced typed pilots.

I do, however, take issue with the viewpoint that some hold that because they are a captain on a 737 in Europe that they feel qualified to captain a 777 on EK's network. In my opinion, and it is only an opinion, that is pushing the bounds what is realistic.

A DEC on a new type, in this environment, with all the issues mentioned above is simply asking for something to happen.

From what I hear they do only plan to bring in experienced currently typed captains--I hope they stick to the plan.

Excellent post THR MCT.....:D:D:D(#311).
Great facts xwind16.
And yes.....they ARE sticking to plan trader!
All in all, its a company requirment and we can all moan and groan here, but they're gonna do what they're gonna do. And its not something either of us has control over.
By the way, what's the water situation yonder in the desert ..

Well Said X-Wind
 

Very well thought out post. Insightful analysis. In any regular airline, FO's transition from smaller aircraft to bigger aircraft, come back down to the smaller aircraft to get a command, hone their command skills and transition back to the bigger fleet.
Whilst that is not possible in EK, because they dont have smaller aircraft, it doesnt mean EK FO's are any better than the others in the industry.
As I have observed, a lot of them come from smaller regional carriers (stop taking pictures of meal trays to send back to your buddies:), I know your old airlines didnt serve "proper meals", or had crockery!!) , and are still able to transition onto a bigger aircraft and fly the global network. DEC whether from smaller aircraft or smaller airlines can still transition.
Proper Training, proper preparation, adequate resources, and a high sense of professionalism will make this possible.

"Proper Training, proper preparation, adequate resources, and a high sense of professionalism will make this possible."

This is true, but you missed out the most important thing- recruiting the right people in the first place. This seems to be where Emirates fell down with the last round of DECs. No disrespect to the recruitment guys- you can only hire the people who apply. Hopefully things will be better this time.

The last round of DECs?

All ex 744, mostly.