Flying Pig:

If I was considering coming to this region right now then my order of preferred employer would be:
1. The UAE flag
2. Qatar
3. Saudia
4.5.6. Turkish/Emirates/Fly Dubai (joint 4th to 6th)

Well being from Britain I hear many stories coming from BA. However I treat these with the same reservation as all stories I hear of differing airlines. However I do believe a certain number of orange bus flyers who got in to BA found themselves wanting to head back after a few years. I'm also sure that BA as with all other airlines is not what is used to be.

fp

As with everything, working here depends on where you come from, as with everything...if you were born and raised on the streets of Mumbai, for example, then moving to Nigeria and working as a Bellboy would pretty much be a dream come true. I would not enjoy it as much.

In other words...

A slap in the face is better than a kick in the b**ls...it is not, however, better than a free lunch.

Get my drift?

How many Pilots have left/Leaving Emirates
 

Flying pig - presume if you mean short career you were born in 1987. If so everywhere is hard work these days. However, in the UK you might think pay is low, not enough time off but compared to other places e.g some places in Europe life is a luxury and management do care.
In my humble experience PIlots in general do have a tendency to moan, if your stuck in a tube for fourteen hours there is plenty of time to put the world right and throw out a few un substantiated rumors just for a laugh. However, there is no doubt that EK crews are over worked because of the nature of their job. They are also a captive audience in dxb. If EK want to fix it a complete shift change is required which means numbers of crews

One of the big advantages of working for airlines in the UK is that you can voice opinions and raise objections without concern. Can't do that here.
You also have a free healthcare system which on the whole works well and is actually interested in your health rather than how deep your pockets are.
Same goes for the education system which, despite its detractors, is amongst the best in the world whereas the UAE system is near the bottom.
Finally, don't be fooled by the "tax free" salary - you will get robbed by day to day living costs.
I'm not sure a real value can be put on freedom of speech - millions have died for it.
You can make a life here but it requires massive patience, adaptability and a great sense of humour.
Good luck in your decision - you seem like a reasonable chap, I'm sure you'll be fine :-)

Perhaps if our glorious leaders did some of the below, EK might achieve two things.

7 Management Lessons From the Guy Who Saved Continental

1 Make large profits to help pay off Dubai's financial hole and make us one of the best paid airlines going.
2 Save cash by not having to replace the people who have left due to the p**s poor management style and crap endured here on a daily basis and make EK the airline of choice again.
Rocket science it isn't.

You have to understand that over here we have more than their fair share of villains, thugs and hoodlums masquerading as leaders.

When considering becoming an expat pilot over here, you are probably thinking what being here can do for you?. Management attitude is the same. It is what they can get out of it, and its every man for himself.

Ultimately being and expat is sc*b labour, either flying or management. Who is actually concerned about what happens here in 10 years?

From a recent "managers" pilots meeting, attrition rate is 3.5% and the recruitment is doing fine. Life is great, 92 hours is the norm and everybody seems to be happy......:ok::ok::ok::ok::ok::ok::}:}:}:}:}:}

Living in that river in Egypt.....

Can someone explain to me the nature of fatigue if one flies 92 hours long haul every month? Isn't that three to four ultra long flights per month? There is definitely something that I am missing here. I am sure I'll get a couple of responses of "what planet are you living on" and the like....I apologize but bare with me explaining that, I really feel I'm missing something or misunderstand how the hours are calculated.

Thank you all.

Yes that would be true. Except we don't fly just long haul. For some, no long hauls at all.

Along with the long flights our schedules include shorter layover destinations and regional type turnarounds. Much of this work includes back side of the clock timings. Check in at 0100 and finish at 1300 sort of timing.

Our monthly schedules are limited not just by hours but we also have the number of days off per month artificially restricted.

And there is minimum recovery time between flights.

If you think that 4 ULRs per month would be easy you are in for a shock.

900 hours per year in LoCo short-haul may be physically demanding, sleep-wise it's a somewhat assured regularity.

The other major factor out here is chronic stress. In your home country you go home and are in your comfort zone. As an expat (especially in certain countries/cultures) you never really get away from work. You have all the 'annoyances' of a country that is very different from your own (traffic, fear culture, corruption etc) and this slowly builds up in the background without you realising it is affecting you. Marriages that do well at home easily break up. You my find yourself angry with family, neighbours and work. Most people are here for selfish reasons and will do anything to protect their own little bubble... especially your 'leaders' at work. It is most definitely not a nice 'atmosphere' to be involved in.

And it IS getting much worse by the day. It's rat-eat-rat. Period.

Gander Radio, if you are having a problem understanding how 92 hrs pm and ULRs totally upset your bio rhythms. I would suggest you try going day, night, night, day, none stop for a week. Then extrapolate that feeling by a factor of 48.

And TJ nobody can fault you for that

And TJ go for it and enjoy. But it will get you down eventually, the trick is to pick when.

Good advice from SOPS here TJ!

And given the events of the last week, let's not talk about the EK "threat based" sick policy.

Anyone with a UK EASA licence put their B777 rating on the licence?
Been offered a job somewhere I actually would like to live, but really I need to put the jet on my UK EASA licence, anyone got any experience with this? I've heard 500 hours on type minimum!?
Any info appreciated!

ICAO to EASA
 

Just put an GCAA Business TR on my EASA ticket. You need 500 hrs on the type and an LST.