Longshank - Notwithstanding everything that is written here, what have you been offered by SW? Is it full time, part time, temporary contract etc. etc. How long to command? and so it goes, would a few years wide body in Dubai eventually improve the balance of your career in the US, for example.

It's not "a few years" anymore though. The bond is now 5 years and $50,000 even if you are type rated. That is a long time to sign up for, especially knowing that conditions aren't likely to improve here in that time.

Have you ever tought about this may be you are one of the cause of this deterioration????
6000 hours doesn't mean a lot you find poeple with just 2500 hours or 3000 hours that have more experience and are more profetionals that the ones with 6000 or more even if there hours are TP hours
What's a good pilot ? A pilot that is trainable , adaptable ect.....
At EK they lowered the minimums to get an interview but the process of the interview is still the same no?
So if guys with 2000 hours on TP where succesful on the same interview you had with your 6000 hours on a decent sized jets what does that tell us?
giving your opinion on how bad it is to live in dubai and work for EK is your right
But judging people by the amount of total hours they have and the contries they come from no you have no right to do that.

dhc8d---passing an interview is not experience. Hours IS indicative of experience!! A pilot with 2000 hours right seat is not, usually, the equivalent of one with 6000 hours and left seat time.

Actually no, they changed the simulator profile quite significantly due to high failure rate. Just have to show 'trainability' whatever that means. There are days now where hardly anyone passes the interview/selection due to the low standard of applicants. The head of pilot recruitment was replaced with a non-pilot and we have several serious handling issues/takeovers on the line every week that never used to happen. So it's all working out well so far. Have fun joining this circus.
Enough of the thread drift.. Southwest all the way!!

Longshank,
So, what did you decide?
I have it on good authority that SWA isn't a bad place to be. Fairly flexible online and instant scheduling changes (some restrictions on certain days of the month, varies). As an example, a close friend had 18 days off (14 in a row, with no holiday/vacation days used) and was credited about 105 hours of pay. 21 days off this month, which includes a week of holiday/vacation.
parabellum - there is no part-time, contracts at SWA. It's all full-time.