Funny you should say that... it really would make things interesting. From what I hear, most ME airlines are having a pretty tough time recruiting quality pilots. EK's attrition rate has increased significantly... and it's only going to get worse as UAE GCAA has ruled that ONLY time spent at controls of ULR flights count towards your flight hour limits - bunk time does not count.

Stop and think about this... Take a DXB-LAX flight of say 16 hours each way... under the present scheme, if you spend roughly half of the time in bunk, you will have only "flown" 16 hours. Considering they build their lines to 92 hours.... do the math.

The conspiracy theory says that this GCAA ruling was to help EK maintain schedule considering their expansion and attrition which was crept up substantially in the past year or so.

You want to kick the ME3 in the groin? Start hiring American expats from foreign airlines - there are several hundred at EK alone (one of the largest groups), same at EY and QR... and almost all have apps in back home.

It will have an effect, believe me... while there is still interest in flying for EK in Europe, there are some that are leaving EK to go back to Ryanair. It's only the beginning...

RJS…

Had a washup not long ago and was told by the guy who came to chat with us that this is not true. It was asked and he confirmed it was not true. EASA rules start in June/July of this year and will be rubber stamped by GCAA although it is unclear as to the 900 hour limit.

He started by saying, "Guys, I won't stand up here and BS you… we are short of pilots". He also mentioned nothing will change… nothing, until an airplane is parked due to no crew available.. which he also said is very close to happening. That's the only thing that will get AAR's attention.

I've heard that we don't have the manpower to man the April Rosters!

Just passing what he told the class….

Kap

The Plot thickens as the Milan A-380 route is now being scrutinized in the public limelight. The Fair Skies group is claiming a breach of Open Skies with Seventh Freedom Rights violation.

How Is It That a Dubai-based Carrier Gets to Fly an Airbus A380 Between Milan and New York? - Forbes

The 900 hour limit has nothing to do with your monthly roster time. If you fly at 32 hour SFO flight, you are credited with 32hours. The only place it will "supposedly" effect is your yearly limit.

I think flights on all fleets are getting issues with coverage. All 3 Captains (1 ca plus 2 tri/tre) in my PPC sims were all called and asked to help cover a ICN flight. All declined. A few friends on the 777 are saying that their freighter flights are routinely dropped for passenger flights. Maybe contract pilots or companies are helping out with cargo. Something will have to change for sure. The packages at Qatar and Etihad are better than EK, with Qatar having a very fast upgrade. 29 aircraft deliveries this year, with a possible reduction of 11 330s. Yeah, something needs to change.

The writer of that "Forbes" article is clearly a shrill for the US carriers. He has gotten annihilated in the comments, and rightly so.
What he seems to miss is that EK charges almost double for an MXP-JFK round trip. People pay extra for EK because EK offers far more extras. They may be losing market share, but it is due to EK aircraft and EK service.
I think he even said that the A380 is not popular....LMAO. Really? One of many rebuttals for that is for him to ask about the 380 from all our Japanese customers who fly from Japan to Seoul so that they can fly on the 380.

I do know the US3 have ticked off Sir Tim, and I believe they will regret that for a long, long time.

Now that's funny.

What's that anti American radical going to do more than he's already trying to do?

He's terrified his little growth empire ambitions are going to come to a screeching halt in America and is having conniption fits about it.

I'm with you. Too bad our own government doesn't give a damn about American jobs.

Gulf Carriers Internal Competition
 

I stand corrected, thanks Kap and PG.

I will say one thing... the open skies agreement may not work for the US3, but it really works for the likes of FedEx, UPS, Atlas, and other supplementals. It also works for Boeing workers as well as smaller businesses Boeing contracted with to fulfill these massive orders. Are those jobs any less valuable than US passenger airline jobs?

As an expat, for example, it sickens me to see no US airline serving Abu Dhabi. American codeshares with Etihad... why isn't American metal flying from DFW or Chicago or JFK or MIA or LAX to AUH where they can utilize that codeshare to connect with Etihad's India and further eastward flights? Hell, coming back to the US, you can clear at AUH so when you land at any of the US airports and make your connection, it's just like a domestic flight... No insane immigration lines in the US... and no other US airline could offer it.

I find it somewhat hypocritical that UAL and DAL only have 1 flight a day to DXB. American doesn't even fly into the region, and yet codeshares with Etihad and Qatar, but say they're unfairly disadvantaged.

I don't know, but it's kinda hard to take the US3 complaints seriously if they're refusing to compete and also completely ignore other US companies that greatly benefit from these treaties.

Would the Open Skies Agreement allow US carriers 5th freedom rights beyond DXB or AUH? If so, why haven't they exercised them?

GF

Gulf Carriers Internal Competition
 

Not sure, but put some metal on these routes from the US. Qatar and Etihad both have massive networks that connect to India, Africa, other parts of Asia.

Whenever I fly on any ME3 airlines to/from the US, it's packed with pax connecting beyond AUH, DXB or DOH and QR and EY both carry AA codeshare numbers...

So again, my question is how is AA disadvantaged by the ME3 if they refuse to put any metal to the region?

my question is how is AA disadvantaged by the ME3 if they refuse to put any metal to the region?

Large market share loss to the Indian subcontinent, loss of European partners market share and Tim Clark's publicly stated goal to pepper the skies with A380 service to many large American cities. If the ME3 carriers are allowed to continue at present expansion rates the US Majors will become mostly domestic and niche International carriers as they offer a far inferior product and service level. EK is here for the long haul but long term depressed oil prices may slow EY and Qatar.

Exclusive: U.S. airlines disclose details of bookings lost to Gulf carriers | Reuters