If you wanted a command in 5 years you should have joined 5 years ago. A glance at the number of aircraft on order (remember some are replacements) compared to the number of aircraft Emirates already has shows that the expansion will have stopped well before anybody joining now is in line for an upgrade. This means anybody joining now will have to rely on attrition and retirements to move up the seniority list before they get a command. There have been no significant aircraft orders for a while now.

Is there anyone out there who doubts that this is the target? As someone else posted, as they get more 380's, it will be easier to achieve those "productivity targets" across the board.

Yes Geordie, It is not going to be 5 years anymore.

More than 5 years to upgrade, yes. Already the case.
Upgrades stopped till DEC2016, probably into early 2017. Big backlog of NAC candidates, excited to start but delayed for months.

I think the big Mueller will make a few changes, stepping away from the low yield 380 operation to a lot of destinations in the States. The IAH operation is making profit again, after flying the 777 in there e.g.
Canceling the delivery of 380's, and changing this to another aircraft like the 350 looks like an option. EK stepping away from the flagship 380 is not unlikely.

Also think that everybody will go to the max hours, just 'enough' pilots to make it all happen. Dumping all the 'old' aircraft, and advertising with the youngest fleet on the world?
Giving it a year orso to clean the mess we are in at the moment, then think about expansion again, slowly.
The office staff will be hit hard, and they have to get used to do one job for one person with the normal amount of one person, not 5.

Interesting times ahead.

Dream on Dream on. zzzzzzz

Hey guys ,


Isn't that the case all around the world ?

All the airlines around the world want pilots to fly max and give the company max productivity ..

And if 380 doesn't make sense then yeah they will change to some other fleet ... But that can happen to any airline rite ?

I can understand if you are from USA or Europe and you get a job back in your home country it makes sense to go back ...

One job for one person sounds pretty good to me. I feel like I'm doing the work of 2 at the moment.

Safety culture is what counts, never forget you have a couple of hundred slf in the back.....

Are there any info about the future of getting a command in EK. heard a bit but like to filter out the rumours ans seaking some confirmation.

I can confirm the numbers quoted here will change numerous times before you achieve a command at EK.
Friend of mine did his in 3 years, I did 4 years, buddy right now just over 5 years, my neighbor who joined at same time as me got his command well after 8 years.
Too many variables to quote a time frame.
There are no guarantees.

I heard rumors of an age limit being added.

There are rumours (and this is a rumour network) that a minimum age of 35 will be introduced for the upgrade. As Macrohard says, when it comes to upgrades there are no guarantees.

DEC s 380 starting at pay level 20 because of age implementation. Also current Capt s 330 going downgraded RHS 380 with Capt pay.

DEC 380?????
Sure about it???

So if you're under 35 and have your command then they downgrade you? None of this makes sense fellas.

Fact or rumour Fatbus?

Forget asking that question. What you should be saying is "I want to join Emirates because its the best airline in the world, I love living in Dubai, I love the multicultural crew concept, I love to be reported for no reason without knowing why, I love working 100 hours per month, I love sitting in an aircraft for 17 hours at a time, I love sleeping in a box under the cabin floor thats about the size of an average suitcase.

All the upgrade stuff is secondary and may (or may not) happen in 7 to ∞ years depending on who does your recurrent sim checks. Go to EK because you love the management, not the upgrade.

What is the current timeline and process for experienced F/O's joining now to left seat upgrade?

The answer is the same as Outlaw described above!

But it doesn’t answer the question.

Because you will never know…. The snapshot of upgrade times at time of joining has little bearing of what your upgrade time will be. At any given time the economic conditions in some part of the world could produce an unending supply of highly experienced DEC applicants potentially delaying your upgrade for years. Equally likely some operational incident will precipitate a kneejerk change of requirements for command arbitrary adding a decades wait for people that were less than a year away from the command course. Now with all of that I will yet again invite you to reread what Outlaw wrote several years ago because it applies equally today! Best of luck!

as a local said once:“you are not here for the money, or the joy and pleasure, you are here to be part of the history“

How long is a piece of string?

Around 6-7 years based on a DOJ around 2018.

if you joined today perhaps plan on 10 years worst case scenario…

What about the accelerated command avenue? False promise to lure potential FO’s??

Always is….. it was also nice in the past when DEC candidates would resign their previous jobs then move their families to Dubai only to find out the DEC course requirements had changed and they were now joining as a First Officer or not joining at all!

Can someone share the trainers black list?

I will try and put things into perspective. In the space of three years, we have gone from mass redundancies, to now having insufficient FOs with experience to promote on the 380. In turn, this has led to the pending arrival of DECs.

If that doesn’t indicate how futile it is to predict time to command, I don’t know what would.

the question s why is it that they don’t have enough FO qualified with experience - and the answer is very simple - most of them have not been called back to rejoin.

Average has been 4 years on both fleets for as long as I can remember

Right after the FO's hired 8 years ago.

If you're experienced then apply for DEC and get ahead of the FOs. They'll love to fly with you.

You might not need to worry about that possibility. Chances are high, somewhere during your training they will fail you (either because of your lack of CRM, or for not answering a question "sufficiently" that was thrown at you during the approach at 5000 ft after a 13-hour flight). They will then call you to the office, kindly offering you to either return home, or re-start your training in the right hand seat. Your choice!