8sugarsugar
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2007
- Posts
- 306
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fired sure, but at least I won't go to jail in america
Iluvetops, You have been here 9 years and you are not happy, great, leave for greener pastures! Maybe SQ is looking for pilots??????
ILT's got a great gig now.
Interesting discussion here. As many know, I was the original EK cheer leader and still am to a certain extent. However, I always said 10-15 years in the desert was going to be the limit for most people for a variety of reasons.
My good friend Gillegan, lasted the longest of any American ever at EK with 15 years. He was fortunate that his wife really liked the expat lifestyle. Still, when the opportunity for a good job based in the USA came after 15 years he took it.
EK allows one to acheive their career ambitions in a relatively short period of time. In the almost ten years that I've been here I've met the majority of my career goals. Something that would be impossible in the USA for someone my age. I still feel there are some challenges remaining so I am planning to stay for a few more years. That and make it to age 50 so that I can get some retirement benefits. I doubt I'll stay much longer than that and here's why:
1) I miss the USA. I've been an expat on and off since 1995, close to 17 years. I really would like to return to the USA now.
2) There is no way I want my children to go to high school in Dubai. The lifestyle is too artificial since they are unable to do many of the things that teenage boys do in the USA. Grade school and middle school are fine, but not high school. I went bowling with my son yesterday and the manners of the "other" kids there was just appaling. I really don't want that to be the example for my son to see. Fortunately he is going to school out of Dubai so he's not exposed to the spoiled little brats with no manners that seem to be the norm in Dubai.
3) Psychopathic drivers keep trying to kill me on the road. Really, this is a daily annoyance. The driving manners of the spoiled little rich kids, after they grow up, is shocking.
4) Growth at EK will slow down at some point. When it does the managers will find new and innovative ways to screw over the workforce. Witness our recent reduction in day off strings from 7 to 5.
I wouldn't really recommend EK to someone now. Only if they need a job. It's still a very good job with very good benefits overall. But for someone joining today it does not have the fast track career potential that it has in the recent past.
Delta's new contract is pretty darn nice. It's so nice, in fact, that I would look at that as a place to go when I turn 50. I could go live in my house in Park City, based in SLC and fly little airplanes around the USA. That actually sounds quite appealing now.
Typhoonpilot
Unless you plan on sending your kids to Millburn High School in New Jersey, I think you'd be in for a surprise at the average John Doe public high school in America. "Manners" in a bowling alley with high school age kids? Try pot, marijuana, and high school kids yelling at their teachers or telling them "I don't have to take that from you." I think I'd rather have a kid go to an international private high school (like in Dubai) than a public high school here. At least they can expand their horizons and learn about other cultures, other people, and be more respectful.There is no way I want my children to go to high school in Dubai. The lifestyle is too artificial since they are unable to do many of the things that teenage boys do in the USA. Grade school and middle school are fine, but not high school. I went bowling with my son yesterday and the manners of the "other" kids there was just appaling. I really don't want that to be the example for my son to see. Fortunately he is going to school out of Dubai so he's not exposed to the spoiled little brats with no manners that seem to be the norm in Dubai.
TP no time like now, DAL window should be open late fall with the first class in early 2013. May as well get to the head of the line as the talk in ATL is 7000 new hires in the next ten years.
Really very tempting at this point. Any American at EK age 40 and under should seriously consider going back for the start of the hiring wave.
TP, I am 40 years old and in the process of getting my command at EK and you think it would be better for me to go back home and sit on the right seat for the next 10 years to then maybe get a command on a 737 or 319?????? Don't know man, things would have to improve back home a great deal for that to make sence to me! Don't get me wrong, I miss the US like crazy but I have to think about more than just myself and family always comes first!
First of all, you need to come to an understanding of what your tax liabilities are as a US citizen who becomes an expat, it is NOT tax free. Also when you become an expat it is usually to pass through a rough period on your career and it is intended with a termination date, you are talking about spending all of your usefull years as a pilot on an expat situation and that involves a lot more than just you, you are placing your family in that expat lifestyle for that period of time as well, most likely the destiny of your children is to marry within that culture since they will grow up in that society and develope their lives around what they know, the culture that they grew up in. To me the expat option is good for somebody who is thinking about it for a few years (within a 10 year time frame) or somebody who does it at the later years of their careers, early retirement from their legacy jobs, or furloughed after the age of 50 for example, then the expat market offers pretty good options, but to choose to expatriate as a career alternative when you are young, with a young family it rarely works.
TP, I am 40 years old and in the process of getting my command at EK and you think it would be better for me to go back home and sit on the right seat for the next 10 years to then maybe get a command on a 737 or 319?????? Don't know man, things would have to improve back home a great deal for that to make sence to me! Don't get me wrong, I miss the US like crazy but I have to think about more than just myself and family always comes first!
I think a fare few will TP, and given that the Americans are now the second largest group at EK, I think EK will have under estimated the "pull" of the job market back home once it turns around. Not only will they not have the American pilots applying to fill the seats a fare few will be leaving also. Obviously many will stay due to the golden handcuffs but lots will have some serious decisions to make regards staying.
?..There are usually 3 things you don't mess with as an employer and those are:
1. Someone's money
2. Career progression opportunities
3. Someone's family
EK is messing with 2 of those so far.