So based on a very good source (ie, someone who sees all the new hires), the DEC's have stopped coming in and the the First Officers have started to come through again.

Not really sure as to why the change, but I do know that this has been close to 3 months with no new first officers.

So, that is fact.
Now for a few rumors.

The 340-500 to Miami. Well this one has been around a while, so I guess it is just hanging in the wind.

The 340-500s are apparently staying until at least 2017 now, with more rumored to come as the 330 and the 340-300 leave, which is already happening. (the last part is not rumor)

The 340-500 business class is to is to be retrofitted (finally!!) with lie-flat seats. This seems to make sense as to go with the previous about more 340-500s coming.

SO, that is all I have really heard. Again, the hiring part is fact. The rest is just moving around between the pilots, but I am hearing the last 2 quite frequently now. Gonna be kinda fun to have a captain that is "junior" to me.

Oh, and we made a fortune the first half of the year ($557million U.S.), so I am gonna go ahead with the 10 week bonus rumor myself. You heard it hear first

 

For clarification, are you saying that Emirates is no longer hiring DEC's, or that there are not an adequate number of applicants for DEC positions?

Second question: Are Emirates First Officers being upgraded to Emirate Captain positions? Which fleets are short-staffed, and and what is the expected time to Captain upgrade for new hire First Officers?

 

Sorry to contradict but the facts are actually this:

September 2012:

11 new hire First Officer
12 new hire Captain

October 2012

10 new hire First Officer
17 new hire Captain

November 2012

10 new hire First Officer
27 new hire Captain

December 3rd class shows 8 new hire F.O.s on the A330

Since June 2012 a total of 69 DECs have been hired. DEC classes on the Boeing reported to end in January. Not sure on the Airbus.


Emirates can and will hire DECs when they want. This time around, starting in June, they were targeting a number near 100 to cover a perceived gap in qualified first officers. They will always have plenty of applications for DEC because of the low requirements. Pretty much every Easy Jet and RyanAir captain qualifies after a few years as Captain.

Emirates continues to upgrade first officers. It is management's stated preference to upgrade from within.

If any fleet is short staffed it's the Airbus side now. The A380 growth is now quite fast, but they seem to have been ahead of the training demand this time so there are no serious shortages that I have heard of.

Time to upgrade is fleet dependent. On the Boeing it is running 4-5 years and might actually dip below 4 years for some people this year. On the A380 it is closer to 6-7 years with upgrades just now starting to occur. The reason that it is longer is one must have 2500 hours on type to upgrade on the A380 and that takes around 4 years to accumulate. Those pilots would have previously done at least 2 years on the A330/340.

A330 upgrades are probably somewhere around 4-5 years. That one I'm not sure of. The RJ pilots who joined 4-5 years ago need more heavy time to qualify for an upgrade so that is taking them 5 years to get. Many of them are now coming through in the Boeing and it looks like they'll be starting upgrades on the A330 if they haven't already.


TP

 

It was my understanding that the 345's were always last to depart in 2017. The 343's should have been gone by Feb but have a reprieve due to the A380 wings repair schedule and needing the capacity and the 330's disappearing somewhere in between.
Here's hoping for MIA.......!!!

 

I hear that the DEC thing is done. The 330 retiring on sched and the 343 were to leave 2 by 2 from feb 2013 and be gone by may but 4 are on staying for a couple of years longer. As TP said there will start to be a back log of upgrades on the 777 when the ex RJ guys get the hours causing the 777 upgrade time to become longer. The RJ guys on the 330 have had to wait close to 5 years anyways and now have the hours. 380 4 done 4 on course and the next 4 might not happen til late next year. There might be some unexpected 777 coming @14.

 

What is going to take the place of the 330 on the thin routes? If, by some miracle, the 350 arrives on time, that's still at least a couple of years away. I heard the flight to Lyon the other day had about 30 pax going and 200 coming back. We need something to stem losses as they wait for loads to increase on some new routes. The Boeing would be a disaster on those sort of routes.

I keep hearing this rumour of an extra 15 777s every time I go to work. I even heard something from one of the recruiting guys that seems to back it up.

Heard same about 345s. Re-fitting and sticking around a long time. This is first I heard of sending it to MIA. I have heard 777 to MIA and then on to a South American destination.

 

No apologies needed TP. Interesting to see all of the different information that is around. My info came from a person who "sees" all the new hires, so thought it was pretty solid.

HLSD.....I think TP answered your question better than I would have. He has a "nicer" position and gets more accurate info than us full-time line guys do.
I had heard that there were a very, very large number of DEC applicants, but that EK was being very stingy on who they hired.

 

Problem with that is that the US requires Visas for transit pax. Most of our typical customers do not qualify for US Visas; and even if they do they're quite expensive. I think a "hub" kind of destination like MIA without a lot of local feed is very unlikely at this time.

 

If one interviewed years ago and was not offered the job, what are the chances of being invited to another interview?

 

You can re-interview after two years.

Good luck!