bus canuck

2020? There's a 150+ plane order backlog. Even with the fact that a lot of these are replacement aircraft, there should be at least 1 additional plane a month for the foreseeable future.

CE750

I too have an Etihad interview in May and wanted to ask if anyone knows the profile of the interview and also if there is a seat lock, what upgrade policy is and how is the over all quality of life.

dundem

I'm glad that this thread is building steam; I for one am tired of the constant referrals to pprune for further info.

I would love to hear any and all impressions of Etihad and other ME carriers. I am hoping that the few (excellent) posters here will spread the word in that region and that other posters will join APC and add their perspectives.

P.S.

Good luck CE750.

B757200ER

I've heard from the ex-pats working there it is a good place, but very different. They like Abu Dhabi (AUH) and some do commute. Their equipment is obviously new and modern, and their growth is high.

CE750

My wife has been reading on some of the cultural restrictions there which appear to be much more in line with Saudi than with Dubai and she's scared.. I'm also reading (sadly on PPRUNe) of a lot of discontent with upgrade/DEC etc.. I've also got an interview with EK the following month, it will be interesting to see what both offer.. To be honest though, I'd dump both if I could just find a decent AND STABE job here in the US!

If in fact they could make it commutable, I would be far more inclined..

I've also got an in on an A300-600 startup cargo in China, but then we're back to crap pay and no medical!

EYBusdriver

Etihad is still hiring DEC's on the 330/340, basically to handle expansion as training can't keep up with FO upgrades. They are trying their best to promote from within but DEC's are necessary, so far the hiring ratio is six FO's for each captain.
Captains need to be rated but copilots dont need to, the Boeing 777 fleet is hiring copilots with glass experience such as 737NG, 744, 75, 76, or any bus experience. The unhapiness is mainly from Europeans who have seen a decline in earnings with the drop in the USD which the Dirham is pegged to.
Some complaints are about upgrades, EY wants the 320 fleet to be the entry point for new captains (internally upgraded) and as it was an all widebody airline the potential new captains perceive a loss of prestige flying a "little" aircraft on regional routes. The talk here is that after a year the 320 guys will ccq on the 330 with all bus drivers flying the 330 along with either the 340 or 320 but not all types.
The lifestyle is great here, at least for me, there are no Saudi type restrictions and the wives seem to keep pretty busy with the usual things,interest clubs, bridge, golf, shopping etc. We tend to go out alot, but you must take a taxi or have a designated driver as the drink driving laws are very strict, if busted expect at least a month in jail and deportation.
Housing is a serious problem here, housing cannot keep up with recruitment. Married new joiners have preference over single guys when it comes to villa and apartment allocations, makes sense because if the wife is unhappy you loose the pilot. Single pilots can expect to stay in temporary accomodation until a flat is found for them. Some buildings house cockpit and cabin, which can make life interesting for the single guy (or unacompanied married guy) as Etihad has a very international crew group and some of the girls are a bit attractive .
The diversity is amazing, on a recent ULR flight we had nine languages between the four pilots and about the same amount of nationalites between the twelve cabin crew.
I'm a pilot so can very easily bit*h about things but overall I'm not unhappy here, remember you must take pprune with a certain amount caution as a very vocal minority can skew other opinions.
On last thing I'd like to add, the crew treat the pilots very well on flights, they always offer the goodies from the back (not like the grannies in my last company) I have eaten a crew meal once in the last year and that was by choice, didnt feel like the steak or lobster.

CE750

thanks for the info, spoke to captain Tate about this.. he's wanting to put me into the 320.. My wife is the big hangup now, but I'm working on her. If I don't find something good domestically, we may have no choice.

btw.. what's the training culture like there.. Brit-centric? or more US friendly? Are they're interviewed Astronaut or more common sense? I don't think I could tolerate the over the top nature of Cathy Pacific type culture.

EYBusdriver

Was a bit worried when I joined as I heard that training could be a beast. Didn't turn out so. Trainers are a mix of European, Malaysian and Canadian with a sprinkling of other nationalities. Done three checks since I arrived, the last day of my first OPC was the toughest, but since then it has been very straight forward, if you are experienced they cut you a bit of slack. Most flights are lots of fun though I've heard from some crew and first officers there is one ex Cathay guy who is a total pratt.
My wife loves it here and she had never lived outside our home country before we made the move.
Was a bit worried about anti American or Western feelings, never met it. All the bureaucrats I've deal with (mainly female Emeratis) have gone out out of their way to be helpful, this is getting a phone, internet, licensing your car etc.
The guys are great to fly with, made many a friend since I came out.

EYBusdriver

The technical exam for the interview covers a lot of international operations. Learn Indian Ocean and North Atlantic procedures, read the prep books ( I did and it helped on the tech), learn something of our destinations. Pprune has a lot of info on the interviews. btw Captain Tate is a real class act, you have to screw up the selection as EY really would like to hire you but you must cut it.

Woofer

Thanks for your honest opinion and insight.

After reading Pprune my morale went underground but I could see that many posts were biased.

Thanks to all for your help