More available crews in the UAE. Same as how the roster has evolved with EK crews over the years.

 

A form of personal and monetary control !
A large part of your earned Dirhams stay inside the country. The system is designed that way. Villas, shopping, schooling, entertainment for most part re-collect your income and recirculate it back to the same pockets it came from. Expats, for the large part sustain the UAE's economy, simply since they are the largest group. With a workforce of close to 1500 pilots together with their spouses and children (for most) you can see what a large impact this ultimately makes on the economical sustainability of Abu Dhabi.
On a personal level, to keep an eye on you and to allow a greater roster flexibility. More crews available with almost everyone living within an hour of base. Everything is negotiable here, including your rosters, thus anything to anywhere can be crewed within an hours notice.
I don't think commutability will ever be an option. They won't even allow you to live in Dubai anymore yet alone in another country.

 

hi there!
does anybody have any specifics about etihad's assessment pgm?

thnks

 

Some questions regarding EY, given I have little interest in Doha at this time I am comparing the package a lot with EK rightly or wrongly.

A) Is there a pickup/driver for work? If not is the jouney ok from most Pilot accom, any traffic issues?? Is the car park convenient to the terminal (and aircon ). Many friends in EK like that perk especially when tired after a long trip.

B) Are medical and license renewals paid by company?

C) Are prices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi similar for education? At the moment is the education allowance covering schooling?

D) General situation with company accommodation for 2014 and are utilities paid?

E) Any healthcare benefits? Only for Pilot or includes family?

F) EY has no provident fund? While this something to take into consideration in the larger scheme of things how much does this differentiate the package on offer .v. EK?

G) Upgrade - generally onto A320 or remain on B777 or A330?

H) Any additional perks or lifestyle benefits which are not stated on EY website salary and benefits section?

 

A) No driver, several highways lead to the airport, company pays for parking in garage attached to terminal.

B) Yes

C) Don't know

D) Depends on what is available and size of your family, or you can take the housing allowance and rent on your own

E) Pilot, Spouse, and children's health insurance included

F) No provident fund, though rumors are flying. At present nothing official being discussed.

G) Airbus upgrades to 320, Boeing to 777 - perhaps 787 in the coming years.

 

thank you @RemoveB4flght.

With the current cost of living and wishing to maintain a fair expat lifestyle without over indulging can one expect to save any money as a First Officer?

Are partners encouraged to visit Abu Dhabi during the assessment?

 

Thanks for the good intel RemoveB4flight.

Let's say you get hired into the right seat of the A320. What is the seat lock time? Does it matter if you are typed vs non-typed? Also, with all of the Boeing's and Airbus coming online in the next 5 years, can pilots bid other fleet types (ie from Airbus to Boeing) or are Airbus pilots expected to stay Airbus, etc? I realize some airlines are more restrictive than others on fleet transfers.

Thanks

 

As for the cost of living, some things are more expensive, and other much cheaper. Since everyone has different standards, different expenses, and different goals, I couldn't possibly vouch for your ability to live well and still save significant money, but yes it is possible.

Partners may stay with during assessment (hotel), however as far as I know the company will not provide airfare for them. You will be fairly busy during the day, and the format of the assessment doesn't allow for them to accompany you to the HQ. More bluntly, there are a lot of pilots looking to join from all parts of the world, so the company while offering lots of information and assistance in getting you settled and started, is not in the habit of trying to "sell" Abu Dhabi/UAE to western candidates.

As far as fleets and seat locks, it's another difficult question to answer. Traditionally the fleets were divided Airbus/Boeing, and a fleet change was something that happened only occasionally and very senior.

Airbus hires either by type or necessity. In your example of hired 320 FO, eventually as your seniority and company minimums permitted you would mix fleet with 330. Then again with seniority if you desired you could keep 330 and mix fleet with 340. There are FO's who hired direct to the wide body with previous experience. Upgrades were to the left seat 320 regardless of current fleet. If the company mandates you change fleets, there isn't a seat lock per se, but if you are close to your upgrade for instance they may not grant you a fleet change without a seat lock (or you can bypass and wait to upgrade if you prefer). With the addition of the 380, and due to the massive training costs involved, the company put a 3 year seat lock on all 380 bids. This meant the super jumbo went very junior, as all the senior guys didn't want to belay their command. Add into the mix the 330 Freighter and 321, and in a few years the 350 and things complicate further.

On the Boeing side, 787 is going very junior as well as most guys want to stay 777.

 

RemoveB4flight

Any guesstimates about interview/assessment throughput? Has there been an increase given recent a/c orders? How many per group, is it mixed, for example DEC and FO candidates for all fleets or specific to seat and fleet? Any ideas wrt success rates? Any timelines from assessment to being advised to being on course?
Thanks for now.

 

Hiring has most certainly ramped up with interview batches almost weekly. I don't have statistics regarding success rates as frankly it's not something I follow. I've heard numbers north of 500 new joiners are needed through next year alone. Looking at past seniority lists of course there are trends where more Boeing or Airbus pilots were hired during certain times, however with large orders on both sides I don't think there is one clear fleet to say is the better chance to get hired.

I don't know if they mix interview batches these days, my experience was no, which I assume is easier to schedule simulator/technical interviews. Time from hired to starting course also varies according to staffing needs, training resources, and pilot's availability.