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So what exactly is the story in the Gulf?

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NEDude

yada yada yada
Joined
Dec 12, 2001
Posts
1,611
Okay I have been doing a bunch of reading and posting on this and other sites and can't ever seem to get much of a straight answer.

So, who exactly is hiring in the gulf right now. Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, FlyDubai, Air Arabia? What equipment are they hiring to? Qatar does not post pay and benefits on their web site.

Which airline has the best/most days off?

How hard is it to get to western Europe on the days off?

Who has the best travel benefits?

I am recently divorced and unattached and want to just make a lot of money after several furloughs and slogging it out through a bunch of regionals and unstable airlines.

I have read all of the complaining on the other sites, so I know that it is not perfect. But then again, making poverty level wages and constantly worrying about a furlough isn't exactly my cup of tea either.

Thank you very much for any info provided.
 
None of those carriers would be commutable to Western Europe unless you don't mind being away from home for weeks on end. If you are divorced and unattached I would recommend you move to Dubai and enjoy yourself. No sense in commuting 6 hours by plane if you don't have to. You will get somewhere north of 40 days of vacation every year to get home. Most of those airlines will give you 4-6 off in a row but it sounds hard to do better than that without using vacation.

Emirates used to give the most days off but now it sounds like those guys are getting min days off, pay freezes, increased threshold till overtime kicks in, loooong upgrade, etc.... FlyDubai is the only one actively recruiting as far as I know. The others are drawing from hiring pools. FlyDubai sounds like a pretty nice place to work. I would also recommend EY once things start moving again. Faster upgrade than EK and better pay. But that's just my .02. Good luck!
 
Hi!

Qatar is now interviewing...don't know if they're still accepting apps...don't have to be typed, can get 8 days in a row off.

I think Air Arabia, Gulf Air, Air Watinayah??? and Saudi are all hiring...have to be typed. Emirates is NOT hiring.

pprune.org for LOTS of info.

cliff
NBO
 
oh yeah I forgot about Qatar. It sounds like Doha is an absolutely miserable place to live as a single guy. This is what I've gathered from talking to people who have worked in Doha. But if you are out of a job then it's definitely worth applying. I think fo's make about 10k per month. Not sure what housing runs.

Air Arabia, Etihad, and Emirates are all hiring but only from a pool of applicants who successfully interviewed roughly 6 months to 1+ years ago. Gulf Air stopped hiring and they have a pool.

If you are willing to go to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Jordan then a few more options open up. NAS, Royal Jordanian, Watinaya, Jazeera, Saudia....A few of these use leasing agencies to source their pilots. Check airlinepilotcentral.com and register with all the agencies (contractair, parc, rishworth, etc...).

vietnam airlines might be hiring 320 fo's again. There is also some expat hiring going on in Japan right now. Pretty good money with commuting contracts.

Good luck...
 
I would say apply to all and see what happens. I don't think you will have much of a choice. "Everybody" says they can handle the change, but expat living is no cup of tea. Since you are single this will help you. Don't be discouraged by "no" because the guy/gal hired in front of you could have his/her spouse pull the plug and then your turn is up. So get those resumes out and hang in there!!
 
I'd say aim for Air Arabia and Qatar with your A320 time. Air Arabia is actually doing quite well financially with their low-cost model in the Middle East. Upgrade times at Qatar, Etihad and Emirates are very slow from what I have read. The CEO at Qatar has a reputation of being a tyrant.
 
If your 737 PIC typed, Fly Dubai is hiring into the 737-800. Although we are home everynight in Dubai, the schedules need some work. You will have a lot of non flying days but crew control likes to put you on standby/reserve rather than give you too many days off. You won't get much more than 3 days off in a row, but you will only fly about 9 days out of the month. Hopefully that will change, we are still a growing and ever evolving airline. The people here at FD are great the flying is great and you can make some money in the process, as long as the CFO doesnt keep cutting pay. I know there are other options but take a look and decide for yourself.
 
EY is currently hiring just on the A330/340 and B-777. All classes for the remainder of '09 on the A320 have been assigned to people from the pool (around 12 guys), with more guys left in the pool. However a lot of the guys in the pool are running out of currency (EY requirment) and thus RUMOR has it that hiring will resume at the end of the year Nov-Dec again for the A320.
Good luck. FWI Dubai is great for a single guy like you !!!!
 
Tyuwerty

Yes the CFO trying to make a name for himself cut the new joiners pay by 10%. He suceeded in making a bad name for himself if you ask everyone. He is not a very pleasant guy to deal with. If you come to Dubai with your family this is a great gig, for the amount of time you will get to spend with them. Like I said you will see your family everyday and fly about 10 days a month, the rest is just hanging out.

Fly
 

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