You can hardly compare 90-100 hours at a US regional to the type of flying you will be doing here. 90 to 100 hours up and down the East Coast, mostly during the day, is a cake walk compared to 90 plus hours across multiple time zones mostly in the middle of night. But hey, knock yourself out if you want to join. You will see for yourself soon enough and will be back on the computer filling out apps for any airline back home that will hire you.

Slaveaway,

You really have no idea do you? There are 100's of guys here who are trying to get your job, who have regretted leaving your job.

You haven't even considered all the other things that you give up to come here, you're just focused on the big machine and destinations and I understand that but you're missing the forest for the trees. A cockpit is a cockpit is a cockpit. Whatever the size of the aircraft behind the cockpit door means nothing because it doesn't change your pay. A 777 cockpit might as well be 170 cockpit, its just a place with 2 seats and a some buttons that turn on pumps etc that you share with some dude/chick for "X" hours that you've never met before.

I digress, no one will be able to help you understand how it goes here, you'll have to make your own mistakes in life. If you do decide to go down the expat life then understand that you will always be a mercenary for the rest of your career and that means you can basically kiss jobs like Delta, United, American etc goodbye!

Shiny Jet Syndrome is alive and well. :8

Happy landings what ever you choose but do the research. :ok:

Hello
 

EK No restrictions on living in a compound . Not allowed to drive . Outside compound you need to be accompanied by a male

I cannot get the above. Does that happen in Dubai ?

(Bigmountain posted that on the previous page)

Now this Is getting interesting.....
 

@BigMountain....:D:D:D Excellent post sir,many thanks. And Thank you everyone else for your insights too. I'm yet to hear from EKs cousin (they are not hiring Boeing boys for long time) and QR. I have few more months to take the final decision considering the facts that every place has + n - ,I'll choose what suits me the best. As of now SV seems too good to resist.

@cherokee : he meant the restrictions in Jeddah.


@Slaveaway : if I was you I would never leave a wonderful country like USA. Believe me I would be happy flying regionals(slowly transition to bigger jets) there, than a WB job in ME.
Even though I get paid more or less the same (as pic vs ME FO) here in my county, I consider ME for a better lifestyle, roster, airline stability and so on. I almost lost my job and wasnt paid for few months when my company went into trouble.

If you want to gain some experience, cut down the transition time to WB and move back to US, then I think it's not a bad call. It's entirely your personal choice. Since you are young your body can take all the beating and you can see the world (or atleast try with layovers getting short) At 30s n older it takes a heavy toll on your body.


Cheers :ok:

ek or sv
 

If i was 23 and had the option of flying a T7 or other big jet in a big airline i would have gone without second thought. Come on guys Slaveaway is 23 no family no obligations.in 7-9 years he will be an experience WB skipper and then he will have the calls for his next job. My only question is if EK will hire someone so young

Does he have an ATPL and a pulse? Then they will hire him IF he passes the selection. However, the minimum requirements are just that, minimums. At the moment EK still have enough applicants with a pulse and a few thousand hours but in a few years (months? weeks?) who knows.

I totally agree with Alloha,

Slaveaway is young, single and with a common pilot's ambition of riding a big widebody.
I think you have a life ahead and joining QR, EK or EY is a good step to fly nice airplanes, get to know the world and due to their fast expansion in the upcoming years I wouldn't be surprise you will end Up left seater in less than a decade.
How long would it take that to achieve it in the U.S.?
I would say not less than 20-25 years even with the current situation (lot of hirings, pilot retirements, etc...)
Top of that, conditions are very good in the Middle East. Forget about complainers, most of them take things for granted and do not appreciate what God have provided them and their families before stating EK or QR is a hell place to work.
Go ahead with your applications buddy and good luck on your flying career!!!:ok:

Being a lurker here I would like to note most ppl that are happy or atleast ok with EK are not posting here and doing other things with there time.

I would recommend EK no questions asked.. Being young and single even more reason to join... Thousands of CC for the picking all looking for Mr. Right :O

Also In less than 5 years i got my upgrade on the fatbus which is awesome and kinda of unheard of...

Let the whiners whine... Im one of the happy campers here in the sandpit..

Climbsequence…

20-25 years for even a wide body captain at a US Major??? Have you even seen the retirement numbers for the big 3 alone??? I think your math is a little "fuzzy".

I honestly think that someone hired today with UA, DL or AA will be a left seat (granted, an MD80 in LGA) in 7-9 years! Even back in my day, I could have been a wide body captain at the 13-14 year point.. with hardly any retirements!

There is SO much more to this decision than just a left seat…. what about the type of management slave mentality EK currently has? Does that no count for something to at least be aware of and realize that 95 hours a month with too many time zones to count will make this 23 year old kid look twice his age after a decade or less even. The constant fear of warning letters, the tea and biscuits, lack of the advertised 42 days vacation… the list goes on and on. Such naivety…..

This kid has no idea what I'm talking about because it's not ever mentioned at road shows.

My 2 fils…

K

If one achieves their command on a wide body, then does that open doors to more attractive jobs, than if you elected to fly a smaller type in your own country?

The majority of Captains here at EK talk about China, Turkish or Korean. Need I say more?

How many captains in the American big three are looking at leaving or would love to retire early?

How many at EK?

Does that tell you something?

Slaveaway,
If you already work for us regional airline, don't you have the opportunity , in the future, to integrate a main us carrier ??
This could make sens to provide you better conditions in a short future I think...

Quite amazing to see SV compared with EK...... EK management should really hang their heads in shame!

I would go. At 22 years old he will not grow weary like most of us do. By the time he is thirty two and thinking of settling down he will have money behind him and will know the world. In your twenties you can handle a lot. Just my two cents.

Why not Mutt? The conditions have degraded so much there and SV was never inferior to any airline in the big league.

Says who? Come back to us in a year if you still feel the same way:)

I would not go. The best career path these days is to be able to be flexible and have options open to you. The only way to do that is to have a well recorded initial command from your own country. If I was young right now I would work hard for peanuts in an LCC until I had 2000 hours PIC and I could make greasy landings more times than not, just like the Chinese like. The world would then be my oyster, I could take the 350k at Hainan full time or 200k month on month off. I could explore all the command opportunities in the muddle east. I would not be tied to Emirates.

Mutt 😷

Well said Polax, sounds like a plan. But that can suit most of the guys but not everyone. These airlines hire 2000hrs pic holders (narrow body) as wide body FOs. Considering the fact that if one is interested in Widebody command or just Widebody lifestyle he or she should just join asap and not wait for 2000+ pic. I agree PIC hours are gold but having that has no priority over Widebody command. Without Widebody experience no one is ready to give you command even with 4000 pic. Besides what if the low cost carrier is responsible for the all the grey hair which one gets in 20s n early 30s. I have seen narrow body commanders in mid 20s get gray hairs. With 4-6 sectors a day and upto 120 hrs of flying a month.

Yes I did take my command for my personal satisfaction but I may not wait for 2000 pic. I'm losing out on quality time with family , personal time, workouts , rest, fatigued all the time, sleep deprived and so on. We get squeezed like the water bottles you see in the cockpit upto 6 times a day. To add a great management which doesn't care about you and a country which sucks out your hard earned money on taxes. I have operated 5 early mornings in a row. That is like legally 610 and later departure but you wake up somewhere better 3-5 am. Which totally sucks ! All this for half the money in ME. Slaveaway can do it but not me.

yes I would have still taken all the beating and did what you said provided I was in my early or even mid 20s.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

You're wrong! ;-)

With the exception of the "6 times a day", which is only different due to the type of flying, everything you say is EXACTLY the same at EK. Except you won't do the 3am wakeups in a row, they'll be random times all over the clock, which is worse. There may be no income tax - yet - but there are few places that can "suck out your hard earned money" like Dubai. Fuel costs now up 24%, 7% VAT coming, and bill drafted for tax on income.

To leave a narrowbody command in your home country for a uncertain widebody command that at best would be years away - and moving further away - is madness. Especially with a five year 42,000 USD commitment.

For what? To say you fly something heavy? To pull cabin crew, as suggested? Ohhhh kayyy....