"One of my acquaintances joined last month on the B777. He says Emirates has around 220 Aircraft at the moment. 300 by 2016, so how come the commands have slowed down?"

Do the simple Math, the guys getting upgraded between now and 2016 are already in the company and are here a few years already.. for guys joining now command will require a doubling of the fleet, attrition runs at about 3% and the pilot body is quite young so retirements won't be an issue in EK for at least a decade. Upgrade times are getting longer and IMHO that trend will continue.

That's an old statement and should probably be changed. That part of the Web site is in dire need of an overhaul. It doesn't even reflect the A350 cancellation. The 777X and additional 50 A380 are almost completely replacements for A/C already on property.

I'd like to quote from a post I made back in February:

Either way, it's close to impossible to estimate a time to command here. There are just too many variables at play. Come and join as F/O (And plan your financials around an F/O package) and if and when you'll get offered an upgrade be happy! ;)

What's the mix of 777 vs. Airbus allocations among newhires these days? Are the 777 slots picking up again?

I have heard that some of the local FOs are leaving to go to the company we cannot mention down the road.

Anyone know if there is any truth in this? And if there is I suppose command time is one of the main reasons.

Is there any restriction stopping expats going there?

If you really want a command at Emirates, the best thing you can do is hire on a low cost operator that’s running fast upgrades, get your command and 3,000 hours, then come to EK as a direct entry captain.

This way you can be an Emirates captain in 5 years instead of the 10 it will likely take FOs hiring in now.

Yep, a few locals are heading up the road, or at least trying to.

I'm HIGHLY doubtful you see EK hiring DEC's in the next 5-10yrs. They hired DEC's last round based on the lack of qualified (hour requirements met/interview passed) FO's. There are, and will be many FO's qualified to switch seats for a long time coming.

Don’t worry, there will be DECs hired again. Emirates always finds an excuse every couple years.

Then once you’re a 777 skipper, if you want to try economy class, you’ll be able to transition to the left seat of the 380. EK will always find a reason to do that too.

Keep the FOs nervous and hungry. That way they can extract more from them.

Absolutely. Whenever the budgets looking a bit tight they roll them in again. The accountants think they save money.

Also other departments are losing staff (AMEs) to the unmentionable airline. The package is more to their liking than what is being received at EK. Rats leaving the ship? Shades of Gulf Air? Only time will tell.:sad:

So that is the reason I haven't seen any Western AMEs? Only the 3rd world AMEs are left at Emirates. They are probably the only ones who will put up with all the BS going on.

I also hear the SFI/SFE terms and conditions are better down the road, including being treated like a Captain rather being relegated to FO status after potentially serving many years as a Capt as happens at EK.

Absolute disgrace how they treat long serving Capts who have lost their medical or get to retirement age and want to stay on as, for example, an SFE.

It's not about the money...it's about the respect that you've (hopefully) earned over the time you've been a captain in the airline.

It wouldn't cost them much, if anything, to treat people reasonably. I'm surprised anyone stays with EK under those conditions rather than heading down the road where their sim instructors are treated much better.

You don't have to be here very long to realize pilots are not valued at all. Expect to be treated poorly and you won't be disappointed .

New EK recruitment banner "Want to move 3 feet to the left".
 

"Fast command".
Even if it was "fast command" and totally loose control of your personal life as in no leave and days off of your choice for very little reward when accounting for living in one of the most expensive places in the world.

And I see in the latest diatribe that the jerks expect us to go to the transport in DXB 15 minutes before report time. More of our time taken from us without even a 'Thank You.'

What's the change ?

JA said he expects us to be on the bus 75 mins prior to departure. Hellloooo, our legal report time is 60 mins JA.
Was in latest weekly update.

SyB.

If that w as directed at me , I'll repeat , so what's the change? The bus has been planned to leave a - 75 to arr no later than -60 at the A/C( duty time), this is not a change.

Your duty time doesn't start until you get to the aircraft?

Dubai is the least of your worries. What about the outstations where you are actually on the aircraft at -75 STD?

The change is they snuck in the extra five minutes during the runway works with the excuse that getting to the airplane 5min earlier would somehow alleviate delays from ATC and runway works as well as the usual collection of retards - excuse me, passengers- that we have to deal with.

And now they're keeping the 5min and hoping no one notices.