Originally Posted by hiplanesdrifter
Gentlemen and Ladies,
Please also consider:
1. Dubai has a high cost of living. Education allowance does not completely cover the cost of children attending the American School of Dubai,(ASD) which is the only "not-for-profit" USA curriculum school in the city. There are other schools offering USA curricula, however they are owned privately and operate "for profit". Currently, it is costing me 2000 Dhs/month to send one (1) child to ASD. That is significant. Vehicle insurance costs are high, approximately 4.5-6% of the purchase value of your vehicle per year.
2. The pace of work here, compared to a unionized major carrier will be at variance to what you are accustomed to. The JAR maximum of 100 hours/28 days is regularly exercised and near max (90-95 hrs/month) are used as blocking targets. Overtime is not voluntary, it is mandated. The credit hours greatly favour the company of course. The clock stops running when you set the brake at the gate - so while you sign the aircraft tech-log, complete safety related paperwork, wait for the pax to de-plane, (and for whom you are still responsible) you are working for free. You are credited/payed the nominal value of block time as determined by the company. For example if you have a tech snag after push back, you are on your own time. No overtime eligibilty during months with vacation, or recurrent training. This can hurt, because you can still work your ass off and get zip for it. The new "stand-by" system is horrible. It is a period, approx. once per year, of 30-35 days of continuous rolling standby. Days off are awarded daily by the rostering department. The minimum Flight Time Limitation of 7 days/month free of duty will apply. You may not have vacation or bid for days off during a standby month. Put that in your papers and smoke it...
3. Most of you can work out the numbers, but anyone hired from now on is basically going to be a career FO. Don't be dazzled by the prospect of growth.
Please think carefully Compadres.
hiplanesdrifter
HPD brings up some good points to consider in making a move. I would agree with some, but generally disagree with others.
Yes, Dubai is expensive, no doubt about it. It is manageable though and certainly not as expensive as many cities around the world. The American Schools are expensive in relation to the International and English schools. If you have school age kids this is an area that needs extensive research before making a decision to move here.
The car insurance rate is a bit pricey. The insurance companies depreciate the car over a 7 year period. In other words they reduce the value 15% per year. If you start with a new car it can be expensive, but as the car gets older they become progressively cheaper to insure. There are lots of deals on 2 and 3 year old Mercedes, BMWs, and Toyotas here. Gas is now $1.70/gallon.
HPD is apparently on the other fleet. There is a big difference between the Airbus and the 777 and how hard we work. The Airbus guys have been taking it in the shorts. While I don't doubt that HPD is working hard, I don't feel that way at all.
The reserve system is aweful
In my 5 years at a major airline in the States I was on reserve almost the entire time. Here at Emirates I'm on reserve, at most, twice per year. That and the other months I actually get to bid where I fly. Four months of the year I get almost exactly what I want to do. I did that as a junior first officer and I do it now as a very junior captain. I could never have done that in the States.
Upgrade times will increase, no doubt about it. The time that a person will stay an expat is generally not for a full career. People will move on and it generally happens around the 7 to 10 year time frame. There are a lot of refugees here, myself included. If they have a chance to move closer to home you can bet they will look very closely at it and many will jump. That will keep upgrades happening. They won't be at the historical three year point, but should stay within seven years.
Typhoonpilot