Hi all. I am scheduled for the Emirates interview Aug. 27-29. I know Emirates doesn't give feedback on the interview process, but I would be interested to know what your perspective is as to why you were or weren't successful. Anything in particular they are looking for or specifically don't want to see?

Thanks for any insight you can give.

So how is the QOL over there? I see the large allowance for school, but how are the schools? And will the allowance cover it? How's the company provided housing? How much/often are you gone? Good expat community for spouse?

QOL is a subjective area. It would all depend on what you deifine as a good QOL. Personally I find it pretty good, others do not.

The allowance is not large when it comes to the schools. It is enough to pay for most of the cost of the British or International Schools, but the American schools are far more expensive for some reason. You will be substantially out of pocket for American Schools, especially in grades 1 through 5. The quality of the schools reasonable.

The company housing is reasonable. I like my villa and it's location, but again this is a personal preference. First Officers without children are allocated apartments which can range from less than adequate to very nice. It's all the luck of the draw.

Expect to fly 900 hours per year and be gone ( i.e on an overnight ) an average of 10 days per month. Instructors are home far more which could become a choice down the road and is one of the big draws to the position.

It's a pretty good expat community and really up to the spouse how much or how little she becomes involved.

That all said, and based on Qpilot's experience it appears unlikely they are willing to hire somebody straight out of the U.S. military. A stint at an airline appears to be required.



Typhoonpiolot

I know you have nothing to do with recruitment, however, why would the recruitment people bring in people such as Qpilot if they have no intention of employing him? Seems to be a waste of his time and theirs. Why did it take EK 3 months to tell the poor guy they were not interested? It only took EK 4 weeks to tell me to get lost. Seems to me it would not take too long to send out the generic, "thanks but no thanks" email. Just a couple of key strokes.
As we talked about at lunch Ty, it is very hard to figure out what they are looking for.

I don't know for sure, but there seems to have been a disconnect with QPilot. Recruiting wanted him, but somebody higher up said no.

TP

TP,

For those of us with an instructional background, how tough is it to wind up as a sim instructor down the road? And how is the pay in comparison to normal line pay? Can FOs be hired into the training dept?

Thanks for your past insights,

Walt

Hi Walt:

The answer is, yes F.O.s are now being hired into the training department as sim instructors. I'm not actually sure what the pay deal is, I'll have to check on that. The training department needs instructors right now so there is lots of opportunity and I would say that will continue for quite some time into the future.

A lot of guys come into training and then leave after a few years. Line pilot schedules are better in some respects, but worse in others. The line pilots can easily get more days off in a row and prior to vacation than an instructor. Instructors don't do night turns in general and have many more nights at home than a line pilot. From that point it's better when a guy has a young family and wants to be in town more. Until this month line pilots could make just as much, or more than an instructor on the 777 by doing a bit of overtime. Starting this month and probably lasting for quite some time the instructors are working very hard and will be doing a lot of overtime.

TP

Just wondering if there are any changes to the EK interview for year 2011, seems like this thread hasn't had much movements over 4 years

TP,

Does EK count bunk time toward the max 900 per yr. flight time?

Hi,

Not many changes. Basically the same stuff but shifted around the three day process.


Nope.

Holy thread resurrection Batman!!!!


Somebody can correct me if I'm wrong, but the answer is yes and no. If you are flying a 4 pilot crew then then the full time as the operating crew member counts toward your limits. When augmenting only the time in seat counts towards your limits. As an example: On a DXB-LAX you operate out and the total 16.5 hours counts toward the limit. On the return you are the augment so only time in seat counts.

For 3 pilot crew, one captain and two first officers then the same rule applies to the first officers. When augmenting only time in seat counts toward the limit.



Typhoonpilot

the pprune.org is more live & has more users & info on that region.
I think Airline pilot forums is more for USA.

try it, may be U will find your answers:

Emirates (EK) Interview - all you need to know about it (threads merged) - Page 143 - PPRuNe Forums

Well yes, but there are so many fakes on there it is often difficult to sort through what is fact or what is fiction.

Another source is *************.com - "Pilots helping Pilots"

There are 4 active EK pilots on that forum from the USA and bunch more corporate pilots living in the UAE.



TP

That one looks like a paid forum, but if the people are genuine & there are enough particpants thenI guess it should be worth it.
Are U a member of it, what's your experience?

TP, wondering if you can field a question; You wrote back in 2007 in this thread that it was unlikely that EK would hire someone straight out of the US Military. Is this still the case? I'm considering applying, but don't want to waste my time. Thanks for the help.

Hi, Sorry to say they still have the requirement to have flown at a commercial airline.


TP

I am a member and forum leader there.

The people are genuine.

You can try the free 7 day trial to get an idea of whether you like it or not.


TP

If you're just looking to fill a few minutes with BS it's a waste of money. If you like to network with real pilots and get the latest intel and job offers from actual people working for the companies offering some of the jobs, this will be the best 10$ you'll ever spend in your life.

As far as the interview process: It has not changed much. Sure things that used to be on day one are now on day two etc., but the basic structure has not changed at all.

Regarding Mil pilots: Some senior managers (Actually just one) still think that spending 2500 hours in a commercial jet gives you more experience than 1500 hours in a miitary plane, let alone 1000 hours in an F15... I know... Don't ask.

What about 3000+ hours in a heavy mil aircraft with lots of ocean crossings?

Unfortunately the company only recognizes the reduced minimum of 2500 hrs if flown in "modern" aircraft, a.k.a. "Glass"... But if you have over 4000 total with 2000 of that in jets you should be competetive IF you have some commercial airline experience.

If you have only mil experience and exceed the posted requirements you should apply and see what happens.

With many airlines, time on type is usually a requirement of the DGCA of the country where the airline is domiciled.

One may have many hours as PIC on the C-40 the military designation of the B737 or the C-32 the designation of the B757. Many DGCAs do not recognize PIC on the military designated aircraft.

By not submitting an application to EK result in an unanswered mystery as how the EK and the Emirates DGCA recognize PIC on military designated transport aircraft.

Good luck Tanker Driver

In the past, I used mil time to meet the minimums, and it worked.

*************.com is a very good site, especially for jobs. To get on there, you have to give them your pilot cert. number, and they look it up. Pilots ONLY.

flightinfo.com also has info, but pprune.org has the most.

cliff
GRB

That's fine. Problem is if you have ONLY have mil time. EK still for some strange reason require people to have commercial airline time in addition to mil time.

Emirates schedules
 

I am in the process of Interviewing with Emirates. Does anybody know how many days off (average) per month are the line pilots getting. I have heard that it has been reduced to 14 because the check airman only get 14 days off per month.
Secondly, is a week of vacation worth a calendar week or is it used in a formula to convert to hours or missed trips or something else

14 could be in the ball park for a 777 or 380 pilot on a high bid month. Maybe on low bid as well. Don't count on more than 8/10 on the 330-340 fleet.

As per the vacation question, not sure I understand it, but we get 42 days of vacation a year. You still get paid your basic pay during vacation.

Days off is a poor metric to use at Emirates. Every time I see this question I look at a bunch of friend's rosters and am never able to come up with an average. Why?, because in any given month a guy might have vacation, reserve, etc. The other major problem is definition. What is the definition of a "day off". At Emirates there are also "rest days" and "ULR standby". There are basically two types of rest days. One is where you have a flight that starts at approximately 0200 the next day. The day prior is a "rest day". Another is where you return to Dubai anytime after 11:30pm in the evening. The next day is a "rest day". Some are better than others, but usually you'd be home no later than 2am. ULR standby days are a day of reserve where you can only be used for another ultra long haul pairing. 99 percent of the time it's just a day off in Dubai before your scheduled ULR pairing the next day.

So when looking at a roster I might see only two "days off" in a row, but what might be there is a rest day prior and a rest day after. Not really 4 days off, but definitely more than 2. Get the point?

When you talk about "check airman", we use the term instructor or TRI/TRE. I'm a TRE and it's true my days off are usually less than a line pilot. However, I am home in my own bed for about all but 3-5 nights per month. My normal schedule these days is ten sim duties per month and five days of flying. That sounds like 15 days off per month, but remember the rest days reduce it to 12-13.

The better question to ask any friends at EK is, "how many days/nights are you at home per month?". Or, "how many duty periods do you have in an average month?".

Oh, and remember the different fleets vary greatly for the above two questions.



Typhoonpilot

^^^
Best Days Off analysis I have read about EK rosters.
True, that a days off number does not usually accurately reflect the actual pilot workload. If you are done at 01:00 and have a trip the next day at 22:00 that shows as no days off.
What I am reading is, that the nights away from home can be an issue with the spouses, since they are only there because of the husband/wife.

Is is fair to say that EK crews sleep away from home about half the time?

How many extra days off per month that are not on the actual roster as days off, should one anticipate or hope for?
Is the minimum 14? Better on long haul heavy equipment?

Thank you

A quick check of some rosters shows that the number of full nights away from home is somewhere around 7-11 for the normal line pilots. If you went with an average of ten that would probably be realisitc. Some months will be less and some more.

Emirates only has long haul equipment.

The minimum number of days off in a 28 day period is legally set at 7 with an average of 8 over a three month period. The realistic monthly average is probably around 12 "days off" on the Boeing and 9 on the Airbus 330. You could reasonably expect another 2-4 rest days per month.



Typhoonpilot

well its fair to say we sleep at home half the time....listen, one of the big issues you need to think about is when you get home, say after a flight of 8-14hrs, and you walk in the door around 6am is that your family is just waking up...and you're wiped out. So you try to sleep in a noisy house at sunrise and you'll feel the pressure (internal and external) to get up and spend time with your family.

After some time of this they get ****ed off and you get ****ed off. Its a tough situation. You spend some of your days off readjusting to dubai time....you feel like a hangover after awhile that never really goes away. You may even take your next trip not fully recovered from your last. This job is 24/7. Not like back home.

Days off emirates
 

Thanks for all the responese. It seems that the days off question is complicated. I am reading that counting standby days as days off gives a line pilot about 14 days off a month. Does this seem accurate?
As far as vacation I am trying to figure out if your vacation falls in the middle of a trip do they just drop the whole trip?
Does a week of vacation give you a calendar week off? For instance if you have a 5 day trip 3 times in a month and your vacation falls on the week you dont have a trip do they drop the trip either before or after your vacation?
Thx for all the help.

I believe the current restirction is a maximum of 5 combined days off on either side of your vacation. So it is possible to have a 7 day block of vacation become 12 days off in a row.

Talking about dropped trips just complicates things. Vacation is in the system before you bid for the month. Your flying is will be on either side of the vacation. One thing that can happen is you get a compressed roster on the days that you are not on vacation. Vacation is only counted at 2:50/day for purposes of the monthly target hours.

If, in the above example you have 7 days of vacation and manage to get 5 days off on either side of it ( two before, three after ) then you have a block of 12 days where you are not working ( but credited for 19.6 hours ). You then get to work 70 more credit hours in the 18 days that you are available for work that month.


Typhoonpilot

and to further complicate things lets say your first trip back to the line after vacation and days off is a ULR. Our company regs require us to be acclimitized in a narrow time zone window for three days before the start of our trip! so now your three days off after vacation is suddenly spent readjusting to dubai time, ironically so you can then operate your trip back to the states where you probably just left! it happens all the time....and they are masters at placing that ulr after, before, or on both sides of a run of days off.

but many guys sneak in say a day before....if you get caught, not good!

Where I am at now I get 3:45 for each vacation day. It sounds like you are getting less. Unless there is some other factors involved. It also sounds like the most days off you can get with 1 week of Vacation is 12 days. That is about the same as it is here.
As for the days off per month counting URL standby days is 14 an accurate number of days off.?
thx

I am hearing that the 350's that are coming are replacement aircraft for the 330 and 340. This would reduce the forecasted growth substantially. Is this true.

Typhoon, it sounds like you used to be based in either CLT or PHL and went DEC to Ek. When was that?

CJ,
Two things to remember. Our hourly pay is very very small. That is, we basically are paid a "salary" to some extent. What the bidding system is like is a preferential bidding system like many US airlines have now. No more dropping trips to extend a vacation and training. If you have a week or so of "leave", the rest of the month will be highly maximized and very very "productive".:eek:

I'll answer that on a PM.



TP

OK

what about the 350's. are they replacement aircraft for the 330's and 340's.
Thx

A bulk of the 350 order are the 900's which they like and these are to replace 332/343/345 and @ 12 older 777. EIS for the 350 for EK was 2014 but they are planning on early 2015.By the the last 380 and 359 arr there will be something to replace the 777, be it a 777ng or just new 777. All of north america will be 380 , waiting on a 30T increase .

Last I heard was the 380 is being taken off of ULR and being replaced by, wait for it..................
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The B777

The exception to that is YYZ because of the slot issues.

The reasoning fo the change is cost. A380 costs too much to operate ( fuel burn ) versus the B777. At roughly 60% more fuel for the same flight and the inability to carry freight it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which airplane is going to be more profitable on most routes. The A380 will do okay with slot restricted and high yield ( premium yield ) sectors because that extra revenue pays for the gas.


Typhoonpilot