Great news Mr. Shaft. Hope to receive the same.

Unless you've applied - none!

Check the website to see what the requirements are, you need 2000 hours multi jet hours.

Excellent and accurate post Attaboy.

One issue you left out is the general decline of T&C's. This is not normally an issue with new-hires because everyone approaches a new job with wide-eyed enthusiasm (especially when flying great equipment on a good route structure) But over time it becomes a huge issue. For example, the inadequate crew rest facilities and the absurd rostering practices will wear you down over time. Unfortunately, the trend is to further push the envelope in those regards.

I would like to emphasize what I think are some important issues.

Family is first. If there is any apprehension in those regards, then make sure you investigate every single aspect of Dubai/EK life before you come. Do not delude yourself, if your wife or kids are not happy, then you are screwed. (kids are not usually the problem, but a serious complication if there is a problem)

Your current situation is another issue. If things are acceptable in your present job and location, then be forewarned... You have no recourse when you are wronged in Dubai. That applies to your personal and professional life. The insanity of 'different laws for different individuals' only affects about 20% of pilots here, but sometimes it turns into a nightmare. Do not think assume that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. Only come here if your prospects do not look good where you are now.

Attaboy mentioned the annoyance and frustration of trying to get anything done in this city (and the company to a lesser extent). It will certainly drive you bananas but over time if you have a sense of humor, the incompetence, stupidity and lack of understanding of how to deal with people, will provide you will endless topics of discussion over a few pints.

Another point, that no one ever mentions, is that once an expat pilot, always an expat pilot. This fact should not be taken lightly. There are exceptions but once you leave home to work as an expat pilot, the odds of returning home to a good job are quite small. For most pilots this is not a problem but carefully consider it.

One last point I wish to make is that management will not support you. The company does quite well with respect to events such as illness/injury, medical care or a family death, but otherwise they will do nothing to solve a problem. The entire purpose of our immediate bosses is to fill a regulatory required position. They are excellent at frustrating the hell out of people to the point they stop requesting help in a particular situation. They are hired based on that criteria, so do not expect anything more.

If you come to this place, have a sense of humor. There are excellent rewards to come here, but there are pitfalls too. For me, I am quite happy. But the general approach to dealing with issues that affect pilots operationally and personally, has to be improved. I have days each month when I detest this place and just want to leave, but then I consider what I would be doing back home now.

I think it is fair to say that EK is not what it used to be. Then again, all of aviation is not what it used to be. It is not such an easy decision nowadays, in spite of the present economic upheaval around the world.

Letter about class dates
 

Did anyone else get the letter today? It looks like we might not get a class date until the second quarter of the year? Some of the people might not get the class date at all, because there one year will be up and there not currently flying? Any info?

Emirates Update
 

We thank you for your continued patience in awaiting news...... plus bla, bla bla.....
Very :( but if you have a job :) say thanks to the big Bosssss

The 2 things that came to mind reading the email this morning:

Whether you get out of the pool will depend on if you are currently flying. Also, if they're not going to offer course dates until April/May, it'll mean most in the pool will be extremely close, if not past their one year expiry.

They started the pool in May and stopped interviewing in what, mid-July? If the "successful completion of the selection process" starts when you get the thumbs up email, then the latest poolies run out of time in August?

Not the news I wanted to hear but 'nowt any of us can do about it.

So why is emirates starting to interview in february if they delay the course dates? I understand the letter regarding a class date but do not really understand the logistics about commencing interviews with an overabundance of pilots in the pool.

So why is emirates starting to interview in february if they delay the course dates? I understand the letter regarding a class date but do not really understand the logistics about commencing interviews with an overabundance

As much as I would prefer for EK to offer course dates to all the Poolies before anyone else, the cynic in me says that they're interviewing in Feb for 2 reasons. Firstly they can. It'll give them more options. And secondly, there's an abundance of Boeing/Airbus pilots that find themselves in circumstances that mean they're falling all over themselves to get a shot at EK.

Basically, I think this email was a prelude to letting those know, who aren't as well qualified as others in the pool, that it isn't going to happen.

It seems to me there gonna interview ex excel guys with widebody and miderange size experience, leave the crj and erj boys in the pool swimming. When the sheet hits the fan its nice to see how they operate. Ehtihad has also put guys on hold, hmmmm maybe a merger, I guess Qatar airways isnt so bad after all.

emirates pool
 

It is evident and very clear some of the guys in the pool will not get a class date anytime soon. I believe the selection out of the pool will be those who have boeing and airbus time first....over 2500 hrs. Like you all said, the rest left for swimming.
Does anyone know what the number is for projected classes? I am assuming 150 in the pool. What was the history for the number of pilots per class? Im thinking maybe 20 per class for April, May, June.
Keep your head up.

Why would they be so interested in pilots who just 9 months ago
had no desire or interest to work for EK at all.

Are these really the type of people they want ?
Working there not because they want to, but because they have to ?

They will leave at the first sign of better times.

They seemed much more concerned with finding the right personality
fit rather than just aircraft experience during the whole selection process.

At least thats how it seemed to me.

They sent 2 guys packing back to their 747 jobs from my class, yet all
the CRJ pilots that were there are now in the pool.

I guess time will tell.

For those who are in the hold pool there are 64 pilots ( captains and first officers) going to be transferred from the A330 to the 777 and no recruitment on the A330 to replace these pilots. The plan was to recruit 150 this year however with the slowdown in deliveries due to the Boeing strike combined with the recession and the slipping of the next batch of A380 deliveries the number of new pilots required will be small.
If you have significant time in Boeing aircraft then you will have the best chance of being called.

Obbie,

I agree with you. True that the crj/erj pilots have less experience and will have a tougher time in training but like everything else, hard work and perserverence will ensure that they will get through training. It has happened before and will continue to happen when the world economy picks up. The sad reality is that many of the people that are interested now were never interested a year ago. So why punish the individuals who studied, applied, and took the initiative to apply at emirates when countless other airlines were hiring. I was given a job offer at both united and jetblue, but my desire was to work for emirates. I did not want to take the risk and go to a career that was showing prosperity but had limited future prospects (united).

The question is that does emirates look at what kind of employee a person is after they past training or are they looking for someone that can just fill a roster that had no intention of applying when times were good but are now desperate for a job? I personally have never heard of a company that offers a position but yanks it as soon as better prospects arrive.

Its analogous to getting married but a few months later, one decides to go with the better looking person that offers great sex but little long term growth. :E.

This post is not directed to any of the people that are applying; but instead, to the people who are making the decisions that affects so many of us.

fn

Gentlemen,

The chaps that are now available are not desperate. They do have large boeing time, JAR licences, which means familiarity with EKs JAR compliance and eu ops.Not a pissing contest just the hard facts.
They are a safer bet. True they do need jobs and so will be less inclined to moan about accomodation allocations,and prompt confrontations because they dont have a nice garden in little america, oops I mean Silicon.

Now some of those guys who applied recently have been called for interview.
Bottom line.....A 767 pilot from a Jar operation and standard boeing time is easier to train,. Ill wager EK wont care about motivation because these guys will commit. Europe is in a mess. They will stay the five years.

Flydubai targeted ex employees of a EU airline while delaying or cancelling all ready scheduled interviews.

Its business not touchy feely.Exploit resources.
As it stands now that resource is Europe, earlier this year it was US.
Good luck anyway

kashima

I think the intake is around 8 pilots per course, and one course per week which is about 32 per month. this is a guess based on recent history, which is admittedly a bit dated due to the slowdown.

williewash so the Eu guys dont complain . Hahahahahahahahaha. Its not called exploiting resourses. Its called screwing people and helping your own. All of a sudden the poolies arent good enough.

Thanks for the info. Hard to put all the numbers together, but fun to guess...i guess?:bored:

ANY NEWS FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE POOL????:confused:

No hiring until atleast june, over staffed on the 777 and no new Airbus until late summer

According to a Ek sim instructor. Only 50 pilots and no CRJ/ERJ guys unfortunatley. In other words there hiring 450 less than previously planned. You never know

What happened to April? I got an email saying April, May, June classes possibly. What are they waiting for to schedule training classes? I was also informed that training contract will start going out in Feb. Can anyone confirm this?

Gents

The pool has just got deeper!! Brace yourselves

boeing strike and a further delay on 380 num 5 has Apr slide to June. Manpower planning(dont think there is any planning) suddenly had to many pilots. Some route/eqpmt might change with loads even some airplanes parked for a short while

I have just heard that Emirates are offering pilots unpaid leave? Any info out there?

Rumour # 09-03

Busted.

Emirates is gonna let everybody in the holding pool expire and hanpick and reinterview the 50 guys tjhey want for this year.

And you know this because...........?

Surplus AB pilots going to the Boeing to cover the first six months of Boeing deliveries this year. New hire classes to start in June. 112 pilots to be hired this year, 56 AB 56 Boeing. (as of last week, don't be surprised if it changes). Didn't here anything about CRJ/ERJ pilots.

"The 777 freighter deliveries will help."

Just heard they (777F) and the 748F might not be coming. Just a rumour..

Update
 

To all in the hold pool. Spoke with HR last nigt on phone and was told that budget meetings are finishing up and they should have course allocations completed by end of Jan. or first part of Feb. She also told me that they were going to allocate dates based on when you interviewed. For example I interviewed in June and she told me that an October class wasn't out of the picture. Also, the 1 year validity period will be extended as long as you are still flying. She said the rumors of not taking the pilots in the hold pool is not true. The only truth to it is, unfortunately for the guys that might not be flying, if they are over the year then they might not be offered course dates. Hope this helps everyone. Just an FYI, I think she told me that there are guys in the pool from last Jan. so these people will obviously get the first course dates, which she said will be June.

The plan for 2009/10 is just about done ( fleet update today )

No interviews til june
Enough Poolies to fill slots this year but bottom poolies could side downwards when interviews start. You do get graded and listed top to bottom depending on how you did durring the interview and your flying background.

Upgrades will slow but this has not been the first time there has been a slow down in hiring. Last time was fall 04, those guys on the bus just upgraded.

2400 pilots now you need 4800 to upgrade, dont think the plan as we know it( lonely line guy) has that many.

DEC's. hope not but will happen, bitching about does you no good
More bad news to follow im sure

I think training is down 60% for this coming year 2009/10

I have been in holding pool since August 2008(screening May 2008) and received an email in December stating that they might not give me a starting date before the expiry of my screening (May 2009) but could consider extension in special cases... No ideas about scoring points at the interview.

Brewbman spoke to hr and mentioned that people would be given class dates based on when they interviewed.

Fatbus says that people would be given class dates based on their ranking and aircraft flown.

So who should i believe?

I was told by hr, that it would be a combination of both. Hire date and experience.
Jan. interview with a crj pilot? vs. a July interview with 5000hr airbus time? Dont know which one they would pick. I'm guessing Airbus guy.

Guys, if you are coming across, just be aware of the problems with the promised villas, which do make up part of your package.The truth of the matter is that the FOs at EK are supposed to get housing, but the accommodation is a stuff up at the moment, pilots who joined from Februaury last year are still in temporary housing (apartments or ramshackle villas), with no sign of any permanent accom on the horizon. When villas do come available, they are allocated without any form of adherence to the seniority list. Even the flight-ops manager who puts out a weekly "update" is not told about them, so we all live like mushrooms

We would be better off if they had told us up front that they were incapable of delivering on the glossy pre-employment ads , then we could still be in our home countries instead of battling to keep our families together due to the terrible impermanance of this setup. Pity they also only allow us a pittance to find our own accommodation, it will hardly find a hamster cage even in these trying times!

So guys, you are forewarned, when you have been in temporary accommodation for 9 months, and your wife is going mental and your kids start to display signs of anti-social behaviour (real things which are showing now!) you cannot say that you did not know, unlike the rest of us poor sods who were hoodwinked! A few weeks in temp they told us :mad::mad::mad::mad:

skyvan....what do you suppose we do if offered a contract?

John,

I can't answer that one for you. You must just be aware that the promised villa may well not occur for quite a while. I was advised only tonight of yet another of my coursemates who is having marital problems since arriving here, a major part of the problem is the lack of permanent housing for us.

All I can say is...if you are in a job at the moment, and are coming here for the bigger plane only, then think if the plane is worth your marriage. The strain you will be placed under, due to no fault of your own, is tremendous. If you don't have a job, or you are about to be laid off, sure, then come along, as this is better than no work at all.

Good luck in your decisionmaking. If you are aware of some of the pitfalls along the way, and your family is as well, you may be able to somehow prepare yourself.

No one can give you the answer. If your single it is a lot easier, all you have to worry about it yourself. Hopefully you know yourself and your limits. If your moving a family, consider the worst, and talk it over with your wife. My advice is do not go if your wife has not been there to see the culture, housing etc. You will really be in the dog house if she gets there and hates it and cannot cope. No job is worth you marriage. Be smart!

emirates pool
 

Any word on contracts for those in the holding pool? Is June still forcasted for training classes?