Qatar and Qatari
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Qatar and Qatari
Shocking article about Qatar and Qatari inparticular.
The truth about the luxury of Qatar Airways | Nyheter | Expressen | Senaste nytt - Nyheter Sport Nöje TV
The truth about the luxury of Qatar Airways | Nyheter | Expressen | Senaste nytt - Nyheter Sport Nöje TV
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Sorry Luke, we all make mistakes, but it seems that you are a bit naive when it comes to ME airlines.
Perhaps EK isn't as bad as QR, but the ME mentality is still very much the same. Remember, you've already made a few bad judgement calls by switching to the wrong job, so please have a read through all these topics before you start cheer leading EK;
http://www.pprune.org/middle-east/53...y-leaving.html
http://www.pprune.org/middle-east/53...ick-leave.html
http://www.pprune.org/middle-east/53...eat-drink.html
http://www.pprune.org/middle-east/53...oad-ahead.html
What you did is a typical mistake that I see a lot from former low cost airline pilots: they all get blinded by a bit of bling-bling and the promise of a quick upgrade on a big(ger) jet and then all over sudden they get a rude awakening that it all isn't as advertised.
From the fire into the frying pan...and suddenly they also forget why they wanted to leave that '4 sectors per day, 20 minute turn around' European low cost job in the first place.
Let's face it: the low cost cancer is quickly spreading and trying to escape to the ME is not the solution. The only real difference is that in the ME the airplanes are a bit bigger and that you now have business and first class pax.
Perhaps EK isn't as bad as QR, but the ME mentality is still very much the same. Remember, you've already made a few bad judgement calls by switching to the wrong job, so please have a read through all these topics before you start cheer leading EK;
http://www.pprune.org/middle-east/53...y-leaving.html
http://www.pprune.org/middle-east/53...ick-leave.html
http://www.pprune.org/middle-east/53...eat-drink.html
http://www.pprune.org/middle-east/53...oad-ahead.html
What you did is a typical mistake that I see a lot from former low cost airline pilots: they all get blinded by a bit of bling-bling and the promise of a quick upgrade on a big(ger) jet and then all over sudden they get a rude awakening that it all isn't as advertised.
From the fire into the frying pan...and suddenly they also forget why they wanted to leave that '4 sectors per day, 20 minute turn around' European low cost job in the first place.
Let's face it: the low cost cancer is quickly spreading and trying to escape to the ME is not the solution. The only real difference is that in the ME the airplanes are a bit bigger and that you now have business and first class pax.
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Bokkenrijder the problem with all those threads is you are only ever going to hear one side of the story. That is the problem with them and indeed the problem with pprune entirely. When was the last time you saw anyone who was happy take time out to go and write about it on pprune? Not denying it surely isn't all a bed of roses over there but don't let pprune fool you, there ARE many happy people there and I know a few of them.
(Talking only of EK, all I hear of QR is negative!)
(Talking only of EK, all I hear of QR is negative!)
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When you fly long haul, one thing you'll notice is that crews all roughly stay in the same hotels, go to the same bars and eat in the same restaurants.
Once in a while I meet EK pilots and most of them do not make a happy impression on me. Granted that these EK pilots that I meet are usually on the A330 (not the most popular fleet from what I understand) but nevertheless I also meet the occasional T7 pilots and once you get past the initial "oh, everything is great here" and you can ask some more specific questions, then things suddenly aren't that rosy anymore.
The thing is that it's natural for people not to hang out the dirty laundry and they want to keep up appearances, so usually it requires a bit of probing...
The problem is that most people (especially the ones suffering from the '4 gold stripes on shinier and bigger jet syndrome' who are thinking about joining these ME outfits) do not probe or ask specific questions. They just hear what they want to hear and stop asking critical questions after they hear the initial: "oh it's pretty good here!"
They daydream of one day telling their 737/A320 friends that they are captain on an A380, have a boat, a 4x4, a great apartment, made some extra cash speculating in the next real estate bubble and that they throw a T-bone steak on the BBQ every weekend with friends!
"Get rich quick and ignore all the downsides until it smacks you in the face," is the motto, so why join a decent EU/US airline at the bottom of the seniority list, when the glossy brochure suggests that you can have it all immediately?
p.s. I know that there will always a few moaners in every company, yet if you read the threads that I posted previously, you'll see that there are not many people who contradict or argue with the moaners. To me that suggests that there is a lot of truth to the story.
One paragraph by the "Emirates the Road Ahead" thread topic starter sums it up beautifully:
Once in a while I meet EK pilots and most of them do not make a happy impression on me. Granted that these EK pilots that I meet are usually on the A330 (not the most popular fleet from what I understand) but nevertheless I also meet the occasional T7 pilots and once you get past the initial "oh, everything is great here" and you can ask some more specific questions, then things suddenly aren't that rosy anymore.
The thing is that it's natural for people not to hang out the dirty laundry and they want to keep up appearances, so usually it requires a bit of probing...
The problem is that most people (especially the ones suffering from the '4 gold stripes on shinier and bigger jet syndrome' who are thinking about joining these ME outfits) do not probe or ask specific questions. They just hear what they want to hear and stop asking critical questions after they hear the initial: "oh it's pretty good here!"
They daydream of one day telling their 737/A320 friends that they are captain on an A380, have a boat, a 4x4, a great apartment, made some extra cash speculating in the next real estate bubble and that they throw a T-bone steak on the BBQ every weekend with friends! "Get rich quick and ignore all the downsides until it smacks you in the face," is the motto, so why join a decent EU/US airline at the bottom of the seniority list, when the glossy brochure suggests that you can have it all immediately?
p.s. I know that there will always a few moaners in every company, yet if you read the threads that I posted previously, you'll see that there are not many people who contradict or argue with the moaners. To me that suggests that there is a lot of truth to the story.
One paragraph by the "Emirates the Road Ahead" thread topic starter sums it up beautifully:
I look forward to this year’s salary review with an expectation of a least 10% and hopefully another 20% to advance us in some small measure towards where things once were. Then I probably could “kick-start the year with renewed energy and vigour.” Because frankly I’m exhausted, deflated, demoralized and like so many others here I am tidying up my affairs in the UAE and working on my exit strategy.
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Bokkenrijder read the article man. All pilots love to have a bitch about life, me included, and trust me I know there are major quality of life issues at every gulf operator, but what's going on at QR is really genuinely sickening and disturbing.
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Of course it is absolutely sickening and you're absolutely right about that! I'm definitely not saying that all is well in DOH.
Nevertheless, I continue to be shocked by such enormous naivety (or should I even say, stupidity?) of the people who even go there! Who on EARTH applies there?! Why on EARTH did you ever apply there, let alone quit a stable job in Europe?
I mean, these stories about QR are hardly real news for anyone who has been working in the airline industry for the last decade and has their finger a little bit on the pulse...
Seven, eight years ago when I actively started thinking about leaving that same orange EU company you worked for, I briefly thought about the ME, but even then it was already an open secret that EK was the only 'reasonable' outfit in the dessert. The others (QR and the 'unmentionable one') were to be avoided at all costs, unless you were totally desperate after having lost your job, like for example the poor blokes at Spanair.
Anyway, it's typical and it's always the same story;
1) people get blinded by quick riches and throw caution to the wind ("oooh stop complaining, you're so negative!") and start believing a fairy tale,
2) people find out the hard way and then say: "well, I couldn't have known, nobody has seen that coming!"
p.s. I'm not saying that all is rosy here in the EU. I realize the risks and I know that job stability (especially in difficult economic times) is very limited. It's exactly because of these ME airlines and their medieval employment practices that undermine our jobs in the EU or US, and with that all human decency and respect that took decades to build! However, if I lose my job, at least I won't have to pack my suitcase(s) within 24h, or I won't be locked up in the slammer because of an outstanding mortgage debt or car loan that I can't repay without a job.
Nevertheless, I continue to be shocked by such enormous naivety (or should I even say, stupidity?) of the people who even go there! Who on EARTH applies there?! Why on EARTH did you ever apply there, let alone quit a stable job in Europe?
I mean, these stories about QR are hardly real news for anyone who has been working in the airline industry for the last decade and has their finger a little bit on the pulse... Seven, eight years ago when I actively started thinking about leaving that same orange EU company you worked for, I briefly thought about the ME, but even then it was already an open secret that EK was the only 'reasonable' outfit in the dessert. The others (QR and the 'unmentionable one') were to be avoided at all costs, unless you were totally desperate after having lost your job, like for example the poor blokes at Spanair.
Anyway, it's typical and it's always the same story;
1) people get blinded by quick riches and throw caution to the wind ("oooh stop complaining, you're so negative!") and start believing a fairy tale,
2) people find out the hard way and then say: "well, I couldn't have known, nobody has seen that coming!"
p.s. I'm not saying that all is rosy here in the EU. I realize the risks and I know that job stability (especially in difficult economic times) is very limited. It's exactly because of these ME airlines and their medieval employment practices that undermine our jobs in the EU or US, and with that all human decency and respect that took decades to build! However, if I lose my job, at least I won't have to pack my suitcase(s) within 24h, or I won't be locked up in the slammer because of an outstanding mortgage debt or car loan that I can't repay without a job.
Last edited by Bokkenrijder; 6th Feb 2014 at 10:50.
