You need to be v careful of Jet2. This is a company who had no hesitation in making pilots redundant from one base while hiring, at the same time, into other bases.

Serious question - were the pilots at the base of closure not offered relocation to another base?

Went to the Westin for a chat with them. Very nice chaps, open and upfront. Doesn't sound too bad but the money really sucks...
I reckon they have to raise the salary to lure experienced guys but apart from that I'd seriously consider them over EK, just for lifestyle...

The package EK offers is actually not bad, it just doesn't keep pace with inflation, so one ends up falling behind after each year.

If considering a move, money cannot come into the equation, is it enough to live on and maintain a decent lifestyle, although you may be earning more at EK, surely there's a price one factor in for the lifestyle!

Making the right choice will be a personal one. Does anyone think things are going to improve at EK?

I believe they were but refused to go.

^^^ THIS ^^^

Jet 2
 

Ladies and Gents, really interested in this Company, anybody considering heading home? Think I will apply. Appreciate sensible unemotional Feedback.

Thank you.

Seem like a nice bunch Habibi, but you have to want to live ooop north and fly in general old aircraft on bucket and spade European routes.

i've been there done that. The pay is a major put off, Easy and Ryanair pay way better. Each to there own, may suit some. Plus the rosters are pants, maxed out in the summer, quite winters with lost of standbys.

SyB :zzz:

That's the deal...

Except the Ryanair info you were given is duff - you have to pay for your rating, AND to earn more with Ryanair you have to be a contractor on hourly rates... great if you're a kid FO who is happy to get moved around from base to base at their will. However if you want a Captain's family life on a proper contract with your base written in stone you won't earn more I'm afraid... and without a rating you won't get your base of choice anyway.

easyJet is the most secure job in Europe (providing you're not at a small base at risk of closure)... Again you have to pay for your rating :mad: (even if you're EK 330 rated) and you have to accept LGW as your UK base frozen for 5 years before you join a transfer list. Will suit anyone who has a home nearby to the airport and doesn't want to move.

Jet2 is a compromise between the two... If you want a Northern base it's perfect. You work as hard as EZY and RYR in the summer then as stated you don't do much in the winter. You don't pay for the rating - instead being bonded for 3 years. 50% pay during the first 2 months or so in training.

Friendly atmosphere though and home every night, at least on the 737 fleet.

You don't leave EK for the money, just for the lifestyle. Never thought I'd hear that said!

Pilots leave Jet2 for lifestyle and to improve quality of life.

and for more beer tokens!

No they were forced to take reduced terms on their contracts, I.e. 70% contracts from a full time contract. 7 days to move base. I think the exact words were " take it or leave it...thousands want your job"

I know, because I was one of them! Fortunately I was in a position to refuse the "offer". Quite illegal under UK employment law.

As I said, no hesitation in trying to pull a fast one. Just watch it.

Moan moan moan it just goes full circle - maybe EK should do a pilots road show in Leeds and bring some sand and make a beach

Before leaving home many feel that paying income tax is a burden but regard it as the norm, as everyone around you is in the same position. Once many become an ex-pat, then their outlook is diametrically opposed to what they previously thought - it is now normal not to pay income tax.

There will be a day when all of us will have to leave the Gulf and some may retire or some will continue to work. For those in the latter category, some sort of income tax is going to be inevitable for many. If you have been conditioned into thinking that not paying income tax is standard, then it is going to be very hard to swallow the pay cut in net salary.

In a wider context, the basic gross salary that we get paid by EK is shockingly low for a widebody operation. It's just that we benefit from a income tax free environment. Most pilots around the world have to pay some form of tax on their salary. We are in the minority here to live in a totally income tax free environment and not commute across a border to get to work, in order to enjoy such a perk.

You have to do what is right for you and your family. I am moving on from EK and not to Jet2, so I am not promoting them but just trying to provide a different perspective, as working in the Gulf can leave you with a slightly warped sense of reality.

As Emma said, it's about your own circumstances.

Those leaving Jet2 for lifestyle improvements probably link income to quality of life, fair enough.

Thos leaving the Middle East to join Jet2 probably value family, home base location and health as more important for them personally.

Above all, for most leaving it's about control, predictability (not talking about rosters here, I know the score with roster changes etc) and Health...

With regard to tax, all true except for those expats from the land of "milk and honey" (and guns).

A factor that is at least partially responsible for the exodus of US F/Os...

It's got to be a quick path command out here to justify the losses to the US tax coffers. It used to be a 3 year breather in the right seat. At the moment it's 5 years but will probably drop to less than 3 with the left seat resignations, unless there is a huge intake of DECs from LoCo's - the young itchy-pantsed left-seaters with no family ties. :E

A shock for those who leave the Gulf, but also a shock for those who stay...

VAT on the way for non-essential goods. Next will be for all goods and services, followed by a stepped introduction of income tax. It's becoming hard to hide all the stealth taxes and fees but at the end of the day the money needed is a huge figure - and it has to come from anywhere but the national population, naturally. Such is life, the boom was pre-2008 and is over and we should all get used to that fact.

Still, for guys coming to the ME from Indian, Eastern European and SE Asian Low-cost airlines it's a great opportunity to rent cheap, live cheap and send the money back to their home country where the cost of living is cheap... I'd jump at the chance if I was in that position, who wouldn't? And they get to see the world too. Especially now the requirements are just a frozen ATPL... No -brainer!

Goodcat, your posts are full of facts that are in reality just your opinion. Oh and by the way, it's a full ATPL not a frozen one. A minor detail that you missed in the interest of not letting the truth get in the way of a sensational story.

Jet2 will be visiting the UAE on a recruitment drive.
 

Hey there fella, simmer down a little.

I ain't BS'ing you, or sensationalizing anything.

Check your facts with the guys who just applied with a frozen ATPL (which is where my info came from BTW).

And for the record I am not criticising the recruitment of anyone with a Frozen ATPL as recruitment should be done on experience AND merit. My problem is that the only people ME airlines will be attracting at present is those with low experience - and that's not good for anybody right? Even the accountants...

Shake hands and kiss n make up?