Kempilot,

Don't want to burst your bubble on how hard you have been working, but frankly speaking all flying I have done domestically in the US is a walk in the park compared to what we experience in this part of the world.

What does that have to do with the UAE?

Read our lips: 90hr+ rosters are normal here.

Factoring.

In the past pilots have flown (flight, not duty) over 100hrs/month again and again. And this is in ATC and operational environments in which, unlike the first-world US scene, the pilots are not spoon-fed, to say the very least.

kempilot

I think what he's trying to say is that the 90 - 92 hours you'll do here is a "little" more taxing because of the nature of the flights. You can end up doing a SFO, 2 days off followed by a HKG followed by a 12 hour rest to do a midnight Indian trip (in the monsoon).

There is just no way one can recover from this sort of flying, it really takes it out of you. Recovery starts when you try and go on leave and get no days off before your leave. You get home and then fall sick because you're body is not use to relaxing. After your leave, no days off after, you're back into the sausage machine.....

Consider carefully

True
I found myself unable to recover.
I'm on my way to a healthier place to live and a healthier company to work for. Anyway, there is nothing worse than what I've just experienced.
I prefer a low cost operation in Asia or europe. At least you knw what you go for, EK is just a hidden lowcostlike with a major difference : a low cost anywhereelse can't afford to kill people.

This place is hell and this company is going to kill people soon.It was close in MEL already. Time to go

Bye bye

@ Kempilot
 

You sound like the same chaps who say "Oh, the drivers in Dubai can't be any worse than in New York or L.A." Try flying an EK roster for a few months. What you're doing now will be seem like a holiday.

I don't know who you work for but you have a crap contract if all that is true. What is your overtime threshold or min guarantee and how little do you fly if you haven't had overtime in 20 years? Yeah I flew 80 to 95 hours a month back in the US as well but I never flew backside of the clock and the longest sectors were 4 hours. The most time zones we crossed were three and, if there was backside flying, there were very specific restrictions and extra pay for it. How many red-eyes do you do back to back with a day trip in between? I would argue that that never happens back home.

I would rather fly 4 sectors during winter out of NY than an India turn around that starts at midnight and gets back at noon, that stuff is brutal. I wanted to do long haul but ended up doing regional flying at all times of the night on a widebody.

snaproll,

I hear Jet Blue is hiring onto the E190 out of JFK and adding more aeroplanes in 2010. Take your widebody experience (and fun midnight India flying memories) and apply to JB if you are a US citizen. At least you got some interesting (or not so) experience on the widebodies to reflect upon...

Good luck

Snaproll3480

America West Airlines, now called US Air. Red eyes out of LAS. We were known as the Vegas Vampires. You are right one of the worst contracts in the industry. The last time I ever got paid time and a half was at Command Airways in 1990.
Straight pay for what you fly.

I am not disagreeing with anyone. I now realize I have just never have been as fortunate as some of you to have had any of those things such as overtime pay etc.

If you don't know any different........

Bandit FO

I am from Jamaica, I challenge you to rent a car and drive from Kingston to Montego Bay

Kempilot,
A few differences between US flying and here. What are your duty rigs to get you to your 80+ hours? What is your duty time per month? Does your duty end when the parking brake is set. Believe me, not one month of flying in the US for over 30+ years was as challenging and fatiguing as flying over nine hours on a turnaround on the backside of the clock during monsoon season into India in a non radar enviornment.

If you prang an aircraft in the US, will you be arrested? Will your union protect you? You done any 16 hour flights across 11 time zones, turn around and fly 16 hours back with only 28 hours of layover?

All the flying around here is not like that, and some is very good and fun. But to compare duty time, duty rigs, union contracted flying and employment, FAA independent oversight to what happens, not just here but other out of US companies, is absurd. There simply is no comparison.

and as I have said here before..we at EK have no "duty rigs jigs figs or migs"....whatever they are...but IF YOU COME HERE...expecting rigs jigs or whatever...forget it...it is simply work work work.......

EK Leave
 

30 days? 'ello?
Wat's dat?
Didn't it used to be 42?
No credit for leave so 80 hours packed into 3 weeks before or after a week off...
Work more- less time off. Only way to get a few weeks off is to go time x!

Kempilot
 

No thanks, Dred! I used the driving story as a parable for people that think 90 plus hours at EK can't be so bad. It's a dirty ras klat mon!

Guys, you can say whatever you like here, for many it will be a waste of effort. No matter how true and factual the info is that you pass here, many will not take any notice as they are blinded by BSJ (Big Shiney Jet) syndrome and will ignore all advice and facts presented.
They will be the new generation of dissatisfied in a year or two!
As has been said many times, if you're unemployed then you should consider EK but if you have a reasonable job in a nice part of the planet you really will regret giving it up.

Come on now, what's the problem? Things couldn't be better...

India and other glorious local night turn arounds
85-90 hours per month for no extra pay other than a pittance of flt pay
Manually inserted flights to suit maximum rostering initiative
Increased reserve coverage, including sporatic weekly reserve
Reduced leave availability and newly announced forced leave
Poisonous internal morale with maximum accountability for all decisions
No open door policy or so called non punitive reporting
Utility cap on villas
Minimal days off before and after leave, due 90 hour bid windows
Unilateral contract changes with no negotiations

:O

EK have announced more Indian flights.
Warning, there will be even more flights coming soon!

Yeah abc1 - that's how it always used to be in the relative good old days:\:\

Hi!

IXNAT:
I sat on reserve for 240 consecutive hours, and was then called for a trip.
I sat on reserve for about 72 consecutive hours, and was then called at 0300 hours, after 1/2 hour of sleep, to be in Operations within 25 minutes, for a 16 hour duty day.
I did a 25 hour duty day (2 man crew).
I knews guys that were asked to count one of there 24 hour reserve periods as a day off, retroactively.
My roomate had a VERY long duty day, and LOTS of flight hours, from FWA-Yellowknife, and then had to do a tail-end ferry from Yellowknife to El Paso.

At a -121 airline, all FAA approved.

cliff
NBO

Sorry cliff,
It is far from faa approved. I don't doubt that it happened but please dont say that it was faa approved and legal.

Yes Hooligan, it is indeed, reserve/standby if not called, out is not duty..while under most ALPA contracts it pays 3.5 block per day, in fact you may sit many consecutive days on reserve, governed only by the term of your CBA with your company..FTLs in the USA really suck..:ugh: