Emirates questions

[DHPFLYN]

Just curious if anyone knew what hotel they put you in for the interview?

Also would like to know how things are with Emirates. I tried pprune but really couldn't get anything but don't come here it sucks. They would never explain what is so bad.

Also if anyone knows what the housing situation is like? I know a couple years ago everything was backed up and people were waiting over a year for the villas.

Pretty much any other information you have would be appreciated. I have a interview at the end of May and just trying to go in with as much information as possible. It would be nice to have some good questions to ask Emirates when I am there.

Thanks again in advance.

 

[typhoonpilot]

Just curious if anyone knew what hotel they put you in for the interview? Lately it's been the Premiere Inn at the airport. It's about 200 meters from the HQ. Brand new hotel with a Costa Coffee in the lobby. Rooms are okay.

Also would like to know how things are with Emirates. I tried pprune but really couldn't get anything but don't come here it sucks. They would never explain what is so bad. It's all a matter of perspective. Depends where you are coming from ( country and job ) and what your expectations are. It also depends on what your family composition is and age of children. The American schools are very expensive for you if your kids are in the 5th grade or under.

Also if anyone knows what the housing situation is like? I know a couple years ago everything was backed up and people were waiting over a year for the villas. Villas available lately, but they are out in the desert. Apartments in Tecom also okay. Distance from both to American schools is reasonable now that ASD is moving out to the desert.

Pretty much any other information you have would be appreciated. I have a interview at the end of May and just trying to go in with as much information as possible. It would be nice to have some good questions to ask Emirates when I am there. 7-10 years to upgrade as a best case scenario. Working our butts off at the moment. Join on the Airbus 330 and you'll die an early death due to cumulative fatigue of mulitple night turn arounds every month. Tough it out for two years and then go to the A380 wouldn't be all bad though. A380 is getting all our (B777) good flights of late.

Thanks again in advance.

My tip for the interview sim is do not follow the flight director after an engine failure on take off. If it's the B777-200ER or -300ER just look through the flight director and nail the pitch right at 9.5 to 10 degrees and it will work out great. Follow the flight director and you'll be screwed. Make very thorough briefings as well. More info on the "other" site if you'd like to join .




Typhoonpilot




Typhoonpilot

 

[DHPFLYN]

Thanks for the response. I was also curious of things to do in and around Dubai? When you actually do get time off is there enough to do to keep a family busy. I understand their are nice beaches and water around. It looks like alot of golf. I have heard about the indoor ski resort. What other kinds of things are there to do?

If I remember they told me of a Emirates pilots club? Wasn't sure what is included with that.

Thanks again

 

[typhoonpilot]

Thanks for the response. I was also curious of things to do in and around Dubai? When you actually do get time off is there enough to do to keep a family busy. I understand their are nice beaches and water around. It looks like alot of golf. I have heard about the indoor ski resort. What other kinds of things are there to do?

If I remember they told me of a Emirates pilots club? Wasn't sure what is included with that.

Thanks again

There is plenty to do to keep the family busy. Little league baseball, soccer, rugby, tennis, beach, desert camping, beach camping, road trips to Oman, golf, etc, etc, etc. It's all here.

EK pilot's club has beach club memberships, gym memberships, restaurant discounts, and some other assorted stuff.

I'm most fond of hanging out at bars and drinking beer




Typhoonpilot

 

[brokeflyer]

and dont forget, it's spring training season for the terrorists camps.....

so you got that going for you.....which is nice.

 

[Gillegan]

Also would like to know how things are with Emirates. I tried pprune but really couldn't get anything but don't come here it sucks. They would never explain what is so bad.

I would suggest that you search a little deeper in PPRUNE. While there is admittedly a lot of moaning and rhetoric, you can ignore that and look at the specific issues that are well documented there. I would pay particular attention to the violations of what is actually in our contracts. While the contracts are notable for what is not in them - making much change fair game - the company has also taken to violating specific parts of the contract; including the paying of utilities in our accommodations and the awarding of leave that is promised in our contracts.

When questioned by individual pilots about the specific violations of their contracts, they were told that it is within the company's rights to change any part of the contract that they see fit without resort to negotiation. Resort to lawyers and courts here is expensive and difficult and the system is heavily weighted against the individual.

Another area for research might be the experience of new hire pilots a few years ago who were promised reasonable accommodation and who were put in "temporary accommodations" for up to 2 years after joining. In some cases, families of 6 were put in small 2 bedroom apartments.

You might also ask the interviewers about the pilot who while still doing his IOE, entered the wrong runway in the FMC, an error that was not caught by the training captain and who was subsequently fired.

Right now there appears to be enough accommodation and you probably would not be put in "temporary accommodation" and as far as I know, there have been no unfair dismissals in the last few months so you might be okay there also. I have also been told that the leave issue is not really an issue because while my contract says that the company will give me 42 days of leave a year, they really are only obligated to give me 30 days. (Compared to jobs in the U.S., 42/30 days of leave sounds very generous but when you live half-way around the world, it really is a necessity. I have been here 14 years and I have not been able to string enough days together to even visit the U.S. this year.)

I won't even go into the schedules and fatigue issues but suggest that you read specifically what pilots are saying about their rosters and the company's scheduling practices (monthly block hours, use of factoring to extend those block hours and disregard for time zone changes in assigning combinations of trips)

I am certainly not telling you what to do but you would be foolish to not factor in their tendency to prevaricate to current and potential employees in your decision on whether to accept a job if offered.

 

[Buford]

I'd second what Gillegan says. I've been here for five years now and I'd do it again if I could wind the clock back but only by a 51/49 vote.... A phrase I've often used is that I like what Emirates does for me but I don't like Emirates at all. One of the problems here is that there is a big roulette quality to the new hire experience. You could show up and be assigned a nice villa near a school you like (and that has slots available for your kids), have great trainers, and wake up years later with a bigger bank account and a swollen liver. Another scenario, which happens often, is to be put into lousy accomodation and then have to fight with an overly bureaucratic and uncaring housing department to get what's been promised. You could have a run in with the legendarily pedantic training department and have a career stunting event happen through no real fault of your own. The training is better than what it used to be but still has a ways to go. Then there's the problem with interfacing with Dubai itself- it takes a lot of patience and understanding to put up with some of the people in this town. Gillegan is correct about contract issues- my contract seems pretty black and white to me but the management types here seem to think they can bend it at will and negotiate after the fact. Promises, even in writing, don't mean much around here.

Also beware that the paycheck doesn't go nearly as far as you think it will on all of your spreadsheets. 'Tax free' isn't entirely true for Americans here with our ridiculous overseas taxation policies. Dubai is also hideously expensive with lots of hidden costs. I never seem to save as much as all of my computations seem to indicate I should. Captain paychecks are comfy but FO paychecks can be pretty tight. That said, most people around here live pretty large and could probably cut back if needed. You'd be amazed at what a guy 'needs' after living in the sand pit for a while.

The equipment is very nice and the route structure is great. Unfortunately lots of the flying is in the middle of the night so the work isn't as nice as it could be. Boeing rosters are difficult- Airbus rosters are plain awful. The company claims to be a world leader in 'fatigue management' but I can't imagine how some of the rostering practices here could get much worse. I've been mostly satisfied with my rosters but have had some months in the past that would cause me to quit this job if they were to be the standard every month.

Emirates is worth investigating, but keep your eyes wide open. This joint isn't for everyone.....

 

[Gillegan]

Regarding accommodations, I just heard today from a reliable source that the entire last new hire class was put into "temporary accommodations". Don't worry though because there seems to be enough accommodations that 20 year old cadets (single) are getting villas.

 

[DHPFLYN]

Hey guys, Thanks alot those are great things to look into. Actually really eye opening. I will try to do all the research I can. Great questions to ask when I arrive.

I assume if I ask to many questions it might go against me !!!

I would rather ask than be surprised later.

Thanks again

 

[fareview]

6% Pay raise announced yesterday.

This was met with widespread disappointment as our annual raise of 3%, which was contained in the contract, was waived last year as a result of the crisis.

Still in the last 2.5 yrs that equates to an 18% (12% in 2008) pay raise. Bonus to follow next week.

Dont shoot the messenger - just passing the information. It is certainly fair to say that we are working more than 18% harder as a result of the new overtime thresholds.

Respectfully,

fv

 

[Regional4life]

Gillegan,
I'm not sure that the accommodation rumur you heard was true. I was in the training college two days ago, ran into the new hire class going through CRM (they were on a break, so I stopped and chatted with a few of them). All had permenant accommodation. They were in Cedre Villas, one was allocated a villa in DSO, and the single guys were in the apartment building over by the mall of Emirates (don't remember the name of it).

 

[atpcliff]

Hi!

brokeflyer:

and dont forget, it's spring training season for the terrorists camps.....

so you got that going for you.....which is nice.

Don't understand your post? Are you trying to say there are terrorists, or terrorist training camps in UAE????

There ARE terrorist training camps, run by various right-wing groups in the US.

In UAE there are 0 training camps, and the chances of one starting is almost 0, as the government has the authority to do whatever they want, so it is VERY difficult for terrorists even to reside in UAE, much less run a training camp.

A terrorist strike in the UAE, again, not very likely, as there are not as many targets as in the US, or Saudi, and, again, the governent is not constrained by civil liberties like in the US. You chances of getting killed by terrorists are MUCH higher in NYC than UAE.

I was missed being at the Atlanta 1996 bombings by 24 hours, due to our Olympic schedule. It could have been me that died that night.

cliff
LFW

 

[BornAgainPagan]

Hi!

brokeflyer:

Don't understand your post? Are you trying to say there are terrorists, or terrorist training camps in UAE????

There ARE terrorist training camps, run by various right-wing groups in the US.

In UAE there are 0 training camps, and the chances of one starting is almost 0, as the government has the authority to do whatever they want, so it is VERY difficult for terrorists even to reside in UAE, much less run a training camp.

A terrorist strike in the UAE, again, not very likely, as there are not as many targets as in the US, or Saudi, and, again, the governent is not constrained by civil liberties like in the US. You chances of getting killed by terrorists are MUCH higher in NYC than UAE.

I was missed being at the Atlanta 1996 bombings by 24 hours, due to our Olympic schedule. It could have been me that died that night.

cliff
LFW

brokeflyer is just being his racist idiot self

 

[Gillegan]

Gillegan,
I'm not sure that the accommodation rumur you heard was true. I was in the training college two days ago, ran into the new hire class going through CRM (they were on a break, so I stopped and chatted with a few of them). All had permenant accommodation. They were in Cedre Villas, one was allocated a villa in DSO, and the single guys were in the apartment building over by the mall of Emirates (don't remember the name of it).

R4L, I hope you're right. It certainly wouldn't make sense given the current availability of villas around Dubai. That said, it wouldn't surprize me if guys and gals were going into temporary accommodation given some of the things they have done in the recent past.

 

[cl65]

Can anyone please let me know where to find the "Prepare for your emirates interview book in usa?

What other books would someone rec besides ace the pilot interview book and the above book mentioned.

If anyone have gone thru recent interview, can you please let me know what is involved and how many days, sim profile etc.

thanks and have a great day everyone

 

[the turtle]

Spot on, Buford...Spot on.

Although in my case a 50/50 split. I fought for 18 months to get decent, promised accomidations from EK.

Guys, seriously do you research before leaving home. If you have friends here, ask them. Especially ask the married guys because if your not yet-you're gonna be. Not easy here on the wife and kids and getting home is a nightmare of time and expense. Whatever magical savings you believe you'll see evaporates. But guys still show up.

 

[johnsonrod]

Spot on, Buford...Spot on.

Although in my case a 50/50 split. I fought for 18 months to get decent, promised accomidations from EK.

Guys, seriously do you research before leaving home. If you have friends here, ask them. Especially ask the married guys because if your not yet-you're gonna be. Not easy here on the wife and kids and getting home is a nightmare of time and expense. Whatever magical savings you believe you'll see evaporates. But guys still show up.

How many EK pilots do you think will leave and return to the states when Delta and some of the other airlines start hiring again?

 

[DHPFLYN]

Spot on, Buford...Spot on.

Although in my case a 50/50 split. I fought for 18 months to get decent, promised accomidations from EK.

Guys, seriously do you research before leaving home. If you have friends here, ask them. Especially ask the married guys because if your not yet-you're gonna be. Not easy here on the wife and kids and getting home is a nightmare of time and expense. Whatever magical savings you believe you'll see evaporates. But guys still show up.

What do you mean your savings will go? I have heard most people spend way more than they usually would while they live in Dubai. Or are you saying the pay isn't as great as you thought it would be? Just curious

Thanks

 

[the turtle]

How many EK pilots do you think will leave and return to the states when Delta and some of the other airlines start hiring again?

WILL Leave or want to leave? Want to leave=very high. Will leave=difficult to say...logistically once you move out here(married guy I'm talking about now) it can be very, very hard. Pack up house (min cost, w/shipping, customs, etc...$6K USD). Take kids out of sch. Exit visa, release paperwork issues at HDQ. (see pprune) 3mo notice period....your juniority at you new job is ticking, as they've hired you but you can't leave here yet, and all of your interview group is in groundschool but YOU. Sell car, stuff (at a serious loss) close out bank accounts...hope you didn't take out any loans!

Here anything you expect will take an hour to do takes FOUR (at least). A half a day? Takes a day. A day...weeks here, maybe never. Forget calling someone on the phone...they don't answer! The only way you get something done here is face-to-face.

I could go on and on, but you get my drift?

 

[the turtle]

What do you mean your savings will go? I have heard most people spend way more than they usually would while they live in Dubai. Or are you saying the pay isn't as great as you thought it would be? Just curious

Thanks

There's no Home Depot here. No Target. No store here like we're used to where you can go in, take an hour, buy stuff you need and get your house set up quick. Believe me it's getting better than it used to, but it's a PITA doing anything for your car, house, computer, etc. And every store has complete idiots who cannot help you with what you need (if they even speak your language (can you speak Hindi? Urdu? a big help)) they'll just read the card in front of the item or the box/whatever like you just did. And return a item you bought? That's an adventure best experienced firsthand.

You wind up spending more than you did at home on inferior crap wasting half a day (for example, looking for a lag bolt). Guys on the 777 at least can get a US flight where they shop for some essential things from home, if they can fit it in their suitcase. I now cry when I walk into Target SFO, IAH.

Books at Borders here are crazily priced. Electronics are 220 only. Car parts...if you can find 'em, overpriced, and maybe fake. Some foodstuffs will shock you. Furniture mostly poorly made. I hope you like IKEA. And you had better get the biggest SUV made. You (and more importantly) your family deserve the safety. It's easier to get BurgerKing to show at your doorstep than an ambulance-you have been warned.

The circuit-breakers in my house pop more than my kid's pez dispenser...i have presently two leaks in my villa and one A/C busted. Crappy workmanship, uneducated, poor mechanics who show up and want to use YOUR tools because they aren't given any. I've witnessed first hand a Chinese guy stand in a deep pool of water checking pump electrics...I actually took three steps back so as not to get crisp myself. A dear friend here (since departed) once had a gas leak in his apartment that they could not find the source of. Finally, they found the skinniest, youngest 'helper' to craw though the ceiling with a butane lighter until finding the leak. (SD, PM me, will ya?) I am not making this up. You will be off on trips trusting these guys with your home/family. Wait till your wife tells you her adventures when you return from your trips. I now ask mine to take a pix (I like pics with my stories).

It is said the first six months-year a new hire will not save a dime (believe it). The pay is what you think it is, it just evaporates like water in the desert. So does your time off. You will spend a day searching for just about anything and find just about nothing.