Kap,
I agree with your statement for the most part, the exception being that you stated EK was close to being a good job.

I have been here for ten years and have seen things taken away from us on a regular basis.
The big one for me is the lost income from flying 90 plus hours per month, prior to 2009 we were paid for any flying over aprox 80 hours per month.
In the time that has elapsed since that rule was implemented I have (and many others) have not been paid for aprox 600 hours of overtime flying.
That 600 hours is the guts of an extra years worth of work which has not been paid for.

A good percentage of our pilot group has joined EK after that rule was implemented and so can not see the contrast.
Another reality is that a large percentage of our pilot group come from airlines which offered poor working conditions and so EK is in their perception an improvement.

My comments are part of a discussion and are not meant to nullify your post.

:D Well said Desdi, it was only meant to be for two months regarding the overtime.....

There is more hurt in the locker for us I fear :sad:

J:E

No worries there Desdi….

I hear ya brother! Agree with your sentiments as well. Didn't realize it amounted to so many hours (600)!!

… And they wonder why so many are resigning!!!

Kap

You're right that it wouldn't take much for EK to be great again. We have arbitrary rules that materially affect our quality of life and have no effect on the amount of money the company makes. A good example of this is the 'maximum of 5 days off in a row' rule. Why? They say it's to prevent roster compression and subsequent fatigue issues. This is nonsense because it's exactly what they do to us when we have vacation. In my opinion it's solely because of jealousy on the part of people who never have to work on weekends or public holidays.

In the old days if you had a problem and needed a day off you could call your Fleet Manager (remember Leroy?) or even crew control, and they would alway help you if it was possible. On the other hand, personally, I always would help them in return. Now, forget it! Their policies have come back to haunt them and the chickens seem finally to be coming home to roost. As I said, it wouldn't take much to improve things, but unfortunately, a mindset is often the hardest thing to change.

It is not mindset........it is blindness........and it will never change, it is part of the culture in this part of the world........i think they would rather sink the company.........

Haaaa…

"It's better to Die than to look bad"

K

An interesting read from The Wall Street Journal..
..Could also add Pilots,Engineers,dispatchers,ground staff.etc,etc..


By RORY JONES
March 20, 2015 9:20 a.m. ET

DUBAI—Emirates Airline is fighting an unusual headwind: labor trouble.

In the U.S. and Europe, the Dubai-owned carrier, the world’s largest international airline by traffic, is fighting accusations by rivals that it benefits from unfair government subsidies. Back home in Dubai, however, it is engaged in a rare tussle with its own cabin-crew staff.

According to current and former staff, cabin-crew employees have been complaining internally about a host of issues, including accusations the airline is asking crew to work more hours and shortening layovers between connecting flights. In response, Emirates is hosting a series of unprecedented meetings where staff can air grievances directly to senior management. It also recently suspended a performance-evaluation system of cabin staff—conducted after each flight—that employees complained was too critical.

Labor trouble is a frequent headache for global carriers, where strikes and other job action can lead to disrupted service. But in Dubai, a semiautonomous monarchy that is part of the United Arab Emirates, strikes and unions are banned. Emirates has long been a demanding employer, especially for cabin-crew personnel—requiring rigorous training, including in etiquette and grooming.

But cabin-crew staff also enjoy benefits not typical at many other airlines, including free accommodation and transportation to and from work. That has all helped keep a lid on open labor strife among its roughly 20,000 cabin-crew employees—at least until now.

The dissent comes as the airline is growing rapidly and trying to recruit aggressively to fill its cabins. Emirates carried 44.5 million passengers in its last financial year, and forecasts 70 million passengers by 2020.

It plans to hire 5,000 more cabin staff this year, to accommodate growth and attrition. That fast clip is straining current staff, according to some employees.

Flight attendants say they are having to work more shifts, with shorter layovers. First-class attendants, who typically work their way up to their postings in premium cabins, are being asked to work in economy to make up for shortages there, according to these employees. Many cabin-crew staff had some annual leave allocation deferred last year, they said.

‘There are a number of subjects that are causing concern at the moment’
—Terry Daly, Emirates’ senior vice president of service delivery, in an email to staff.
Emirates said in a statement that it hasn’t shortened layover times, and any changes to staff routines are exceptions that comply with safety rules. Staff have to work in other cabins at times, the carrier said. Emirates didn’t immediately respond to a request seeking comment about deferred leave.

The company also declined to comment generally about cabin-crew complaints, and it declined to make executives available to comment for this article. Saif Al Suwaidi, director general of the General Civil Aviation Authority, the U.A.E.’s airline regulator, said issues about airline labor conditions are a matter to be sorted out between staff and management.

The new gripe sessions announced earlier this year are one way Emirates is trying to manage the complaints. In an email in January to staff announcing the meeting, Terry Daly, Emirates’ senior vice president of service delivery, wrote he was “aware that there are a number of subjects that are causing concern at the moment.” He called the meetings “an opportunity to talk about these directly with me,” according to a copy of the email reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Emirates has held three sessions so far. The first meeting, held last month at Emirates’ Dubai headquarters, dragged on for double the scheduled two hours, according to three attendees. In a statement, Emirates said the forums last month were just one of many ways employees could communicate with management. “We have always encouraged open dialogue,” the carrier said.

Emirates Chief Executive Tim Clark has recently weighed in. Late last year, he started to send a quarterly “update” email to employees, soliciting feedback from staff. But he also warned about gossip mongering: “I’m astonished by the range of colorful stories that sometimes do the rounds in our company,” he wrote in October. His advice, he continued, according to a copy of the email reviewed by the Journal, is to “keep well away from naysayers and gossips and focus instead on our ambition to be one of the most loved lifestyle brands.”

Write to Rory Jones at [email protected]


Full article
http://www.wsj.com/articles/labor-st...ine-1426857624

Going to make for some very interesting times in the castle.

Maybe Mr Rory Jones would like to know how the pilot group feel? There's no smoke without fire. :ugh:

J:E

Now I really have seen it all:
TD quoted in the WSJ.
Internal STC e-mails in the WSJ.

Not good.
I can't see a happy ending any time soon...

An accurate article. It is worth pointing out that the moral among the pilot community is even worse and its implications for safety are far more grave. With rock bottom moral, pilots put under pressure not to call sick, some pilots even losing their ability to self certify, lack of leave, pilots put under pressure to work on days off, repercussions for daring to mention the fatigue word and the ever looming 1000 hrs.
Most cabin crew are single and without children as a result they are more mobile and can vote with their feet. The pilot workforce generically is not and has more ties with often other family members working in the UAE or at schools and universities, therefore to a degree the resignation rates do not correlate but morale among the cabin crew and the pilots are very similar.
Mr Jones could have equally well targeted the pilot group. perhaps with more effect.

It is nice to know that I am soon to 'retire' as I am indeed an over 50 and about to pull the pin. Just wish the retirement kitty was indeed that healthy.
At least I have accumulated enough grey hair not to upset the EK statistics.
Unfortunately most of us here are in for a nasty surprise in a few days with the publishing of the April rosters. An early peek of mine (top bid) shows a roster that's in a few words is an unbelievable 92 hour nightmare. The impending train wreck will not be pretty but I plan on seeing it from afar!

Interestingly, the MORALE of the pilots with poor morals is also down....(let's please not describe their morals as 'loose', however, as this will undoubtedly lead to even more confusion between 'loose' and 'lose'!) :ugh::)

Perhaps Sir Timbit should respond publicly to the letter he received recently from an IO customer addressed to him personally, taking him to task for many things, such as his brutal leadership and treatment of his staff.

The letter is not gossip, it's fact. I will not post it nor the response out of respect for the author's identity. It must have hurt TC to have to read the true sentiment of someone he couldn't punish.

"Loved lifestyle brand"?! Pffft. Marketing nonsense. It's just a ruthless corporation intent on squeezing its labour as hard as it can without a thought for their humanity, with the benefit of being located in a jurisdiction with no worker rights. Simple bullying, really. This is now starting to bite back. Social media and the internet are a game-changer, the truth does get out.

How about publishing the results of the employee satisfaction survey, EK? Still waiting....

Pedantry alive and well, must be a private eye reader😉 you'll love the link.

Attrition rate now is meaningless, the trend is the key. If attrition moves from say 2.2 to 2.7% only 17 more people have resigned in a month based on 3500 pilots over the year. But.....if that 17 becomes the norm, the true rate has just jumped to 6%. Ripples are manageable, waves are not!

The surprise to me is that I know now of 3 guys that have left without jobs to go to, happy to leave and then take time to go back to work. I feel sorry for the recruiters who have to try and manage the situation; they need assistance from above but history suggests that may not be forthcoming based on some of the previous pronouncements. Anyway let's be optimistic, here is the thread from the last pilot's meeting, that was a shocker.

http://www.pprune.org/middle-east/12...t-meeting.html

Thanks for that captain, like many on this network English isn t my first language, perhaps the content and thread is more important than a cheap shot:ugh:

I remember that meeting, I had to leave at half time to avoid saying something that would've got me fired! Amazing how long ago the spiral commenced, there were some great quotes fom that meeting which escape me as I head off to the pub!

Apologies, Drop....I meant no harm. Your turn of phrase, otherwise, does not suggest that english is not your first language! There you go, a compliment!

It's always funny to see the perk quoted "as being driven to and from work".

If the company didn't provide it, crew would arrive when legally required, either 1 hr or 1.5 hrs before departure, and every flight would be delayed. The company only does something for it's own benefit!!

They only provide transport because they have to by law as no areas is served by public transport 24/7 which is our working hours. They could however probably get away with busses as has been suggested before for common areas like dso or maydan.