Middle East Booming: Emirates to Hire 4,500 More Staff Starting April

[uba757]

Gator, are you serious? I don't know what rules and life it is your friends here in DXB have been subjected to but I have been here for 4 years and have never had a problem with anyone about anything!!!!! As long as you respect the locals, they respect you right back, I guess that is the problem, sometimes as Americans we travel around the world and feel this entitlement to act as a bunch of jackasses and when that back fires on us, we cry wolf and start to bitch and cry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! uba757

 

[Freight Dog]

You wouldn't subject your wife to UAE laws? What laws are you referring to? My wife absolutely loves it here, and no, she ain't a Jumeirah Jane either (by choice). Also, you can see far more skin walking around the malls and the beach here than you can dream of back in the US... and that includes Spring Break. But hey... keep spreading the story how women have to wear a niqab...

In addition to what fareview said (he's an airline guy), I'd like to add that at my gig (flying a BBJ), in addition to regulatory days off, I also get 7 days off in a row every 3 weeks; yes, I can choose to commute if I want (some guys commute from Europe), I can turn off my phone, go scuba diving, leave the country, etc. Now throw in 42 days of vacation per year which can be added to my block of 7, we can actually go on vacation virtually every month.

Oh yeah, the flying part too... I love our destinations and layovers.. 4 to 5 star hotels and resorts literally all over the world. Pick a place, we've probably been there, and I'm not even kidding...

Whenever the company positions me somewhere on commercial airlines, regardless if it's 100 miles or 10,000 miles away, it's either in Business Class or First Class if Business is sold out. The only time I have to fold myself in economy - sadly, is in the US when there's no other option but a friggin' 50 seat RJ! Yep, I enjoyed Dom Perignon in First Class on EK A380, and a shower about an hour prior to top of descent.

Here's something else, at work, I'm actually treated with respect (in addition to being compensated a very respectable package), and not like a strut wiper, or someone's b*tch. Hell, I get driven across the ramp to my plane in an S5...

Oh yes... one more thing. I personally choose not to live in a Villa. I prefer the more cosmopolitan lifestyle. I live in a high-rise in a 3000 square feet apartment next to the beach overlooking the Marina and the beach with my own personal terrace. About a third of the time it takes me to be at the best beach in Dubai is spent in my elevator getting downstairs.

My social circle? Aside from other Americans, let's see... Lebanese, French, Brits, Aussies, Spanish, Brazilian, Bulgarian, Moroccan, Emirati, Ukrainian, Russian... just a few that come to mind.

Are there downsides? Absolutely... but the pros far outweigh the cons.

Would I go back to the US? Having tasted the good life in aviation, it would have to be really worth it.

Look man, being bitter is not healthy for ya. So if you got rejected by Emirates or some other place here in the region, I can understand being disappointed, but believe me... you're just sounding bitter and frankly, a little ignorant.

In any case, I truly hope you find your nirvana at Kalitta...

 

[airgator]

Sorry man I'm not bitter and far from ignorant. I see the place for what it is, an emirate being built on slave labor that treats women as second class citizens. Don't use the mall and the beach as an example of where a woman can go and not have to cover up, they are the exception and not the norm.

 

[uba757]

Where is it that women go an have to cover up? A Mosque! My wife doesn't go there, anywhere else? Go spend a day at the EKHQ and then tell me women have to cover up! If you are talking about local women, that is their problem but none of them have ever told my wife to dress like they do, again it is a question of respecting someone else's culture, something that some Americans find hard to do!!!!!!!!!!!! uba757

 

[iluvetops]

Lots of kool aid drinkers...Fv and UBa 757 didn't not revealed the bad side of EK and Dubai. The good parts are almost all true..C'mon...give us the other side of the coin. When I joined EK 9 years ago I was in the upper 700s, and gained around 250+ number in just under 9 years! Amazing isn't it? But why? We didn't lose that much to retirements and those senior to me was young as well! So something is not right? The info need to be balanced and not vague..

Great people to work with? I agree and disagree. We do have some good trainers and but most are arrogant and ignorant chaps. Does the cabin crew really check on us every 20 mins? I don't think so! And you really think that they did pay us a Bonus? My friend, the bonus that we've got was the money they owed us! The loss of OT from 2008..so the bonus was our own money being returned to us minus the interests. The amounts of OT loss was greater than the bonus they paid me..!

The financial year ending 30/3/2012 EK made twice the profits of SQ and no bonus..on the other hand SQ paid 1.5 months of profit share plus the 13th month basic...therefore it is worth 2.5 months of bonus to the staff- a lot more generous than EK. There are some good valid points about EK but also comes with some minuses...

Desert is not as green as it seems to be..

 

[Freight Dog]

Sorry man I'm not bitter and far from ignorant. I see the place for what it is, an emirate being built on slave labor that treats women as second class citizens. Don't use the mall and the beach as an example of where a woman can go and not have to cover up, they are the exception and not the norm.

I hear ya... about the same way I see US airlines - treating pilots and airline employees as slave labor and second class citizens. Certainly paying them like that.

So, to each their own... you enjoy Kalitta and if it takes trying to put others down to make yourself feel better, while I don't agree with the idea... whatever makes ya feel better. On the other hand, I'll stick to living well and STILL managing to live within my means and put money aside, albeit in the Middle East.

As a final request, please keep spreading how badly it sucks here. I'm sure it helps keep the US regional/supplemental riffraff away and our compensation up there...

 

[uba757]

Iluvetops, where in either of my posts did I mention anything work related apart from the dress code at EKHQ? My answer was a respond to an ignorant comment made by a fellow American about living in the Middle East!!!!! You have been here 9 years and you are not happy, great, leave for greener pastures! Maybe SQ is looking for pilots?????? I don't know and I really don't care! As long as my family is happy and enjoying the experience of living in DXB, then I am happy as well, is not a perfect job and EK is not a perfect company but you take the good with the bad and at the end, it is still better than most other jobs out there!!!!! Uba757

 

[Freight Dog]

Lots of kool aid drinkers...Fv and UBa 757 didn't not revealed the bad side of EK and Dubai. The good parts are almost all true..C'mon...give us the other side of the coin. When I joined EK 9 years ago I was in the upper 700s, and gained around 250+ number in just under 9 years! Amazing isn't it? But why? We didn't lose that much to retirements and those senior to me was young as well! So something is not right? The info need to be balanced and not vague..

Great people to work with? I agree and disagree. We do have some good trainers and but most are arrogant and ignorant chaps. Does the cabin crew really check on us every 20 mins? I don't think so! And you really think that they did pay us a Bonus? My friend, the bonus that we've got was the money they owed us! The loss of OT from 2008..so the bonus was our own money being returned to us minus the interests. The amounts of OT loss was greater than the bonus they paid me..!

The financial year ending 30/3/2012 EK made twice the profits of SQ and no bonus..on the other hand SQ paid 1.5 months of profit share plus the 13th month basic...therefore it is worth 2.5 months of bonus to the staff- a lot more generous than EK. There are some good valid points about EK but also comes with some minuses...

Desert is not as green as it seems to be..

Valid point. Here are some minuses - from my perspective, again non-Emirates:

- weather in the summer. Absolutely friggin' sucks! Heat and humidity? Think South Florida summer, but just add about 20-30 degrees on top of that. Sucks! But again, being a glass-half-full kinda guy, it is offset by roughly 6 months of perfect weather (Oct-Mar) with transition periods not as bad.

- Ramadan. As if summer temps weren't bad enough, many places are closed during the day during Ramadan. Most non-hotel restaurants are closed during the day until sunset. Now again, glass half-full kinda guy - I like the thought that I can order in from just about every restaurant known to man and they'll deliver it to my door within 45 minutes.

- Sort of retarded ways the business and banking system works here. Salary transfer certificate?! No objection letter? Passport copies? You roll with it and have a laugh afterwards.

All in all, no, Dubai is far from perfect. It's also not for everyone. Off the top of my head, it's not for racists, bigots, close-minded, and intolerable people. Whether you can make it happen for yourself out here is largely up to you. I choose to enjoy the good and roll with the bad - basically make the best of it. In the end, I make a great living, fly nice aircraft to some fantastic places, work with great crews, and enjoy the quality of life that would be extremely difficult to duplicate back in the US. Do I miss the US? Yes. Am I in a hurry to leave this just to work in the US for less than my current housing allowance and call it 'good money'? No way!

Do I wonder about leaving at times? Yes, the grass-is-greener virus occasionally takes a swipe at me too, but I usually shake it off in no time.

All in all, for me and my family, the pros far outweigh the cons... however your mileage may vary..

 

[fareview]

Iluvtops

He didn't ask what the cons were...he asked why do we fly here....for the above reasons.

Anyone who does something for nine years that they dislike ...with plenty of other opportunities globally around....

Nuff said

fv

PS forgot to add to my list....over there I never got called Sir..over here I dont get called anything else.

Had to laugh last month in a certain Asian hotel on check-in...I had forgotten to get off bus first and in fact arrived at desk last....my entire crew stood back 10' politely waiting until I checked in before they approached the desk...at the same time Delta were checking in....the Skyqueens were having a scrimmage to the get their keys while the Delta boys looked on at us with what can only be described as awe...like I said its the little things

 

[Freight Dog]

the Skyqueens were having a scrimmage to the get their keys while the Delta boys looked on at us with what can only be described as awe...like I said its the little things

Most international airlines and VIP/VVIP operators, particularly in the Middle East and Asia are REALLY big on proper protocol and projecting their image in the best possible light, whether in terminal, hotel, or onboard service.

As you say... little things.