I don’t think it can describe qualifications properly. I’m sure you remember the guy from 747 classic who was asked to resign some 10 years ago after insisting to call FAA inspectors in JFK to inspect AIU after inbound crew hit taxi lights in Ostend. He passed his initial Saudia training with best recommendations. And later proved he was just plane dangerous. He was also famous by using his brother’s log book to show his qualifications.
Regarding the above mentioned person you better ask first officers who share the same cockpit with him...

Well, this is the only way, and this is where I got information from. Quite a few of them.
It’s always good to be in a good company:). I could be one of them. Have no idea what they think about me:)

Saudia aims low for a high return
 

“At present, [Saudia] flies close to 30 million travellers annually. By 2020, just three years from now, it is confident that figure will have grown by 50%, to 45 million, said Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, the Saudi Arabian Airlines’ director-general.

“Those additional passengers will be carried by a rapidly expanding fleet, he explained at Airbus’ Finkenwerder assembly plant in Hamburg, Germany.

“Speaking as he accepted the first Airbus A320ceo for the group’s new low-cost carrier, Flyadeal, he noted that when Saudia started its ‘transformation plan’ in 2015, it operated 117 aircraft. By the end of 2020, that figure will have grown to 200. It received no fewer than 28 new aircraft in 2016 and plans to take a further 32 into its inventory this year.

The rest of the article can be found here:

Arabian Aerospace - Saudia aims low for a high return

Yeh right. He's dreaming :ugh:
Where does he expect to get the pilots, especially considering the 140 resignations these last few months; the contract changes (no bonus etc etc); forced re-basings and "hello..." there's a global pilot shortage on at the moment :}

I love this line.....

GE90

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4695/...8f4eb1f91d.jpg

OUCH
 

That’s expensive!

Its from AKN and appears to have happened last week.

Thank you Mutt. What on earth would cause damage like that? Maybe it ingested a mechanic's tool or something? Possibly a rock or some other form of substantial FOD? Anyways, it looks like a very expensive repair!

As it's a -200, I'm sure that they will just push into the dirt and leave it there.

Respect the Jet Driver !
 

Well said. And the way the pilots are being treated by the sadly incompetent HR and it's own flight operations department, it's not long before Saudia will have to ground a load of airplanes due lack of pilots to fly them. And sadly, by the time the pilots leave, Saudia will have such a bad name that it would fail to attract any new talent. And with expats as well as locals leaving, that would be the end of the end for SV.
To recover it has to start treating it's pilots with more respect and better conditions. Look at EK for example. They can pay in gold coins and pilots still won't join up. That's how bad a reputation can get !
As per a recent study conducted, EK had 28 airplanes grounded in end 2018 due pilot shortage. And SV already had 13 on ground.
Of course the reasons stated ere anything but pilot shortage :\ .

Saudi needs to pull up its stockings !
And start respecting its Jet Drivers...:cool:

Which aircraft? I don't see any of the present fleet grounded, just aircraft like the 777-200 and E170.

Cheesey Dick,

Are those 140 resignations you mentioned truly confirmed or did some rescind their resignations when HR were forced to increase the contract renewal tenure offers from six months to two years for everybody?

The grounded airplanes won't be for you to 'see'.
They would either be used as Christmas trees for temporary cannibalisation of parts or flights would simply be cancelled eg freighter 777 flights or then simply parked in Riyadh undergoing some 'major' check. Who is to ask.
Info is from a very well reputed international business house that specialises in studies and viabilities of major companies.

Make your own judgements.

Even the brand new 747/8 was grounded... It’s parked in Jed, covered in sand ! They say it’ll fly soon again

The 777F and 747-8F were parked years back for business decisions not for lack of crew.

140 expat departures are rumour. I personally, have not met one that has submitted a resignation. Of course some people might be holding their cards close to the chest.

15 KSA nationals have resigned for other local companies. I have met some of these fellows personally.

They have brought back retired pilots to fly 330.

Pretty dificult to hide an action like that when we are taxiing past the maintenance hangers literally every single day.

There is no area 51

"140 resignations..."
It's likely more now but is true. I heard it directly from HR and saw all the paperwork cluttering the desks to go with it. That was over a 3 month period back before Christmas when contracts where savaged. How many have changed their mind and stayed I don't know but every expat pilot I came across back then was either going or had gone... Saudi City was changing demographic very quickly & not for the better. Very few Malays now remain and Greeks. A lot of Egyptians are being enticed back home too.

P.s. Metro, have a look out behind the Royal Maintenance Hangar between 34C & 34R. That's full.

Chocks - Good point, I forgot about that spot. Will try and look next time through.

Looking at google earth, they appear to be E170's, A300's, 777's and maybe some L1011's, plus or two corporate jets

3 789's have not flown for over 2 months. One being the latest. I can give you registrations.
6 772's are similarly grounded but for parts.
2 773's for parts too.
11 320/330's haven't see flight in over 12 weeks.

You do the math.

A Continued Saga...
 

Well, the parking of aircraft for parts is nothing new. I flew for SV and was on the initial course for the 777s in 97. Within the first 2 months, we had several aircraft being dispatched with brakes inoperative. Interestingly, we didn't have 'the special tool' to allow for us not having to go through the performance related decrements. So, we had to calculate the geardown penalties. Not long after, new aircraft arrived and were subsequently parked in the dirt at the south...scavenged for parts. It doesn't sound like much has changed in the 20 years since.

It's must be a gift from God to get the opportunity to go work for Saudi, no.

Another B773 tail-scrape on takeoff outbound for JFK "apparently"... finally turned back passing Rome :rolleyes: Four habibis in the pointy end.
How many is that now? :hmm:

When did it happen? Any extra info about this ?

Tail Strike
 

This one happened back in December. Has there been another?

Incident: Saudia B773 at Jeddah on Dec 9th 2017, tail strike indication

Things are just getting ugly day by day. Doesn’t look good at all.
They are taking expats for granted and changing the t&c the way they like.

Old Boeing - yes additional to the above one plus a few others in 2017 and many other incidents... wheels falling off A330's... the list goes on. Yes SG and just watch the insurance premium climb as the expats depart and safety decreases. :hmm:
Happy Landings :ok:

In the previous tailstrike an expat was equally involved...

a few hundred meters away...the desert....is waiting for them!!

It appears that our previously discussed "Captain" has now placed "Doctor" in front of his name and convinced the company that this should be shown in the crew list :)

I will be the first to congratulate him on his new doctorate, from Harvard, I believe.

Romasik - What Chocks is talking about is a third time in which The Manufacturer has called back the aircraft to Land (!)in the previous years, after an incident unreported. An extremely serious trend of denial in this company and I'm not talking about the huge river to it's West.

Has he really become a Doctor? If so what’s his specialty? I expect it’s proctology? If so, then I’ve got a very serious case of the “Farmer Giles” I wouldn’t mind him taking a good look at!

Do you think he might be interested in providing a consultation?

Waz up folks! I’m reading your replies here and I understand that SV is going to stop dealing with expats , isn’t it?
I have lots of questions and no answers. Is anyone here who working for any Saudi carrier ?
What kind of license do they need ?just icao, faa or easa is preferable ? Can’t find it on web site.
Is it possible now to get job as FO 320 there, I mean any Saudi carrier not only SV?
What about flynas and Flyadeal ?
I need your recommendations my friends😢

Thank you my friend...
it’s so sad 😞

Hello Gents,
I recently flew with a Senior SV Captain that was positioning with us.
He was mentioning that there is a plan to restart the 777-200s after extensive D checks and that also the 747-8 freighters, along with the 4 777F, should come back on line after some setbacks they had with one of the wet lease operators. The way I understand it is that they might reopen (in the near future and for a limited period of time) the recruitment of expat pilots to man the new additions to the fleet so at the end of the day all hopes are not gone yet.... :ok:

They have interviewed quite a number of expat SVA crew, so it will be interesting to see how many move there.

There is no flying for the existing crew... why’d they need additional?
But they seem to be hell bent upon not giving over time. So they would rather hire more pilots and keep them below 78 credit:ugh: In their opinion, this is cheaper than to pay overtime...:D

@alby2000,

The senior SV Captain you spoke to is clearly either deluded, misinformed or basically talking crap.

The B747-8F’s are mandated back into service by higher authority than the SV management. The logic being that it’s better to recoup some of the expense of purchase by flying them for Saudia Cargo, rather than pay out for an ACMI operator to fly the cargo. The same is true for the B777F’s. However, the reintroduction of these aircraft back into service will definitely NOT require ANY recruitment of expat Flight Deck Crew. The required crews are easily provided for within the existing work force. Whoever told you that is either talking out of the back of his head or his ass, most likely the latter.

It’s very unlikely that Saudia will be employing expat Flight Deck Crew anytime in the near future. They have more than sufficient Saudi National Flight Deck Crew to man the current operation. The only thing that might change this is when the airline moves to the new Jeddah Airport Terminal. That should create the opportunity for much for better optimisation of aircraft, leading to the opportunity for greater utilization. This may lead to more flights, both in terms of increased frequency & possibly some new destinations. It’s also a certainty, that should this opportunity occur, it will definitely NOT have been thought of in advance, or planned for, by the very inept and incompetent Saudi Flight Operations Management, most of whom could find their ass with both hands if they were already sitting on the crapper. This lack of foresight & advanced planning, which is de rigeur within Flight Operations management, might lead to a short term shortage of Flight Deck Crew.

@EarToEar,

I stand slightly corrected.

FlyNas are currently recruiting for a few A330 Captains & A330 First Officers to crew a couple of A330’s that are expected to added to the operation soon.