Hi BC:
I'm glad you've come over here to APC and started posting. You provide good information. There are a few of these PPrune hit and run negative posters showing up here now and again who have an agenda. One of the reasons I seem so positive at times is that I am constantly trying to counter their negativity. To provide a counter-argument, if you will.
I'm also glad that you posted your experience and feelings about Emirates and Dubai. It provides balance. You've done it in an unemotional way without any agenda other than to inform. If you have read our other threads on Emirates here you'll find that most of the negative aspects have already been covered at length. The cost of housing, the costs of schools, time to upgrade, etc. it's all there for someone to research.
At no time have I ever told somebody that I think they should choose Emirates over Fedex, UPS, SWA, and a few others. At no time have I ever told a young guy that they should pursue a career as an expat overseas, actually quite the opposite, I discourage it. I provide information on EK as it is a viable alternative for some people. It works very well for some people depending on their goals and expectations.
I understand your frustration with the Airbus upgrades and DECs. I'm sure that is one of the root causes of so much negative posting on PPrune. I've said it before publicly and I'll say it again, I wouldn't have come to Emirates as an F.O. if they were hiring DECs at the time. At my age it would have been too great of a risk. I knew that getting onto a widebody would be a better long term career move. I did take a risk and it has paid off. The risk is now much greater that the DEC hiring is here, but it is an acceptable risk for some. Even with DECs EK is upgrading well over 100 pilots this year.
Four years or five years to an upgrade is still a lot better than many alternatives. Seventeen years after I was hired by a U.S. major and I can't even hold right seat in a lav truck in Philly.
People on PPrune complain about policy changes that have some slight negative affect on their working hours or upgrade times. Legitimate complaints, but put in perspective for a second don't seem to be that bad. My union voted to terminate my pension plan. I did not have a vote in that. $600,000 gone, just like that. Now that is something worth complaining about. Twenty years to hold narrow body captain, that is something worth complaining about. $76/hour before taxes for an 18 year narrow body F.O., that is something worth complaining about.
Typhoonpilot