BA or EK? Help me with the choice.
 

I was so lucky to get a job offer from BA on the B777 and just few days later I got the same type offered by Ek.
At the moment I work for a major European carrier ,I'm around 30 and the command in this company is very far away.

I really can't make my mind up......

If I'll join BA it will be a very long time for command and I'll have to commute from a southern european location to LHR.

Ek will a choice for a lifetime (at least 20-25 years of living in the crazy driving and hot Dubai).

I'd like to hear from guys flying for ek about what the think after few years in the company about the city and the career and from guys in Ba about their feelings on the long wait for command.
Basically: "would you do it again"?
Or would you rather stick to your old, no future but decent "quality of life" company?

Any comment is REALLY appreciated.

Thanks

If you really have the choice - go for BA on the 777. I have heard horror stories about EK management and their inability to stick to contractual terms (they will change your contract at will from what I have heard).

Unless you are really MUST fly an A380 someday (no guarantee even if you are at EK), then go for BA.

At the age of thirty I would say its a no brainer. Tee wheels have come off the EK waggon, I have the command you aspire to in EK and will be giving it up to become an FO elswhere and am older than you. THe flying is interesting in EK the guys on the wole are great, but the company has complete control of your life. Do you realy want to give complete control of your life to someI ndian Beaurocrat that is what you have to ask yourself.

Having read threads in the middle east forum, I would be very surprised if any EK drivers recommend you go to EK over BA.

Bubair

EK in its present form is not a 20-25 year proposition. If that is your timeframe, BA is a clear winner.

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Do you realy want to give complete control of your life to someI ndian Beaurocrat that is what you have to ask yourself.

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well in ba there may be no indian in mangement oh there is one in the board non something but too many cowboys have you tried virgin dude
:8

BA if you go anywhere. EK is badly run and you have to ask if they are going to be around in 5 years. I don't mean they will go under but they will probably be taken over. Maybe by BA!

Please put away the crack pipe before posting. :yuk:

"Badly" run EK made a profit of US $750 million last year and will equal that this year. Who is going to take them over and why ? How are they going to take them over ? The owners would have to be willing to sell their shares. Please tell us where it is you can buy shares in EK, what stock exchange ? :confused: My god man, your post in almost idiotic.

That said, and the reason your post isn't completely stupid is that I agree, BA would be the better choice for a 20 year career. :ok:

Typhoonpilot

Congratulations Bubair ! The choise is yours

Good luck

I wouldn't worry too much about commuting from Southern Europe to LHR. These days I'm surprised when everyone on the flight deck lives in the UK. We've got hundreds of pilots living abroad, a large proportion of them in Nice, Toulouse, Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga or Alicante. Someone once told me we've got about 2000 flight and cabin crew in the Barcelona area alone and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it was true.

Hi, nice situation to be in so best of luck once you have made your decision. I enjoy EK, previously worked for VS and commuted which is an absolute nightmare. If the work was giving you a block of 12 days off per month then i would still be there for sure. Commuting with BA might be easier perhaps. Trouble is when you get 2 days off here and there, it is a pain. We have 3 ex BA guys that i know of here. Two ex 777 FO's, and another ex 320 skipper. All have no regrets. Rgds.

Thank you Khaosai,
Can I just ask you for how long these BA guys have been with Ek?
Like a lot of you have said it looks like the first 5 years in Ek are great since your upgrading all the time, and then to work for your entire career at 9 days per month starts to destroy your life and your health.
I am not in BA but it hard for me to understand why someone should leave BA to get into the nowdays Ek.

http://speedera.emirates.com/www.emi...uditors_EK.pdf

Seems that their profitability is little due to capital injections. Or state loans.

TP

Another intelligent post, mind you I'd expect nothing less from you.

Bubair

Given your age, I'd say BA. Why?

Because you have sufficient time to see reasonable career progression, even though you are in a major.

A move to EK in search of a quick command may not work given the numbers now and you may find a command in BA (albeit narrow body) will occur around your EK joining date.

On another note....

Someone commented about "the horror stories of contracts being changed at will", sorry but that's far too contentious talk for me so here I go, again.

Emirates have not changed anything in my contract per se, mainly because there was virtually nothing in the contract to change. Emirates have fiddled with employment regulations (company policy which forms part of the contract) and there's not a thing you can do about that. The front page of the Emirates contract says quite clearly that Employment Regulations (effectively EK policy on employment) form part of your terms and conditions. It also states quite clearly that "You will be notified of any changes to the terms and conditions of your employment in writing"

No negotiation, no representation. So yes, they can change your conditions at will. EK's will because that's what it says in the contract and YOUR will because you signed in agreement. The only horror story here is that people have signed an employment agreement they don't understand.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm content as long as EK works for me. When/if it doesn't, I'll move on providing there is an employment offer that exceeds what I have now. I have to take the rough with the smooth because I agreed to a contract that gave Emirates that degree of flexibility.

If you join an airline (Emirates in this case) with a weak contract (for the individual) and poor employment legislation/representation then you must accept a degree of personal accountability in your decision.

Having said all that, and given what is on the market, I'm content for now. My core conditions are much the same (or better) as the day I joined and things have worked out well.

If you want solid employment contracts and representation for the employee though, don't expect it in an expat contract.

Another reason for BA at a younger age.

BA.
Simple for all the reasons said above.EK has great equipment,great route flying,ive had many happy years but the last 2 has seen a dramatic shift away from what was once a sought after job.IMHO of course.
See the EK threads make your own informed decision.

You wont see many going the other way,unless of course youve done your 30 years at BA at take a DEC at EK.

Good luck QB:cool: