Emirates out to hire 700 pilots over next 18 months . . .

[Expat]

I hope they can land in cross-winds.

.

Many asian, as well as ex-soviet airports only operate parallel runways. They seem to be doing OK. Lots of practise in x-winds.

[Jaques Strappe]

They must be doing something right?

You guys need to research a little. Emirates pays zero dollars in corporate tax. They also advertise tax free salaries which are actually comparable to post tax salaries here, based on similar equipment. So they are basically saving the income tax paid by each and every pilot at other airlines.

That translates to to MASSIVE SUBSIDIES. Can you imagine if American Airlines, British Airways, Air Canada, Lufthansa and the like did not have to pay one dime in tax? They would all be placing massive aircraft orders as well. I don't think they are particularly stellar at running an airline. Imagine what Boeing would say if Airbus was suddenly allowed to conduct business without paying a dime in tax and allowing it to flood the market with cheap airplanes.

My advice to anyone who is thinking of going, do your research and be very prudent about it. I know of at least 20 past work mates who have gone there and only one or two are actually happy there. We had one guy at Air Canada who left during CCAA and as he put it, " he escaped in the middle of the night" to come back to Air Canada, bottom of the list, 750 seniority numbers later. Different strokes for different folks.

[Expat]

J S,
It is a known fact, the the UAE is using all the tricks in the book to make their business models effective, like cheap Indian labor, no taxes, no medicare, etc...In fact, more than half the population there is migrant workers, who have no basic rights, and who are limited to 2 years employment.
This gives the government there a huge savings advantage compared to other countries. Even if they paid fair prices for fuel, all other manual labor costs are very low, and translate into huge savings for the airport services, the airline, and all other businesses there.
They have even created Flydubai, a low cost airline, designed to cheaply ferry the poor workers who could not afford Emirates...
http://flydubai.com/english/who-we-are/fleet.aspx

The place sure rocks, but it is not for every one. Especially if one wants to bring his family there with him. We joke that during Ramadan, even Afghanistan is better than there.

[MrWings]

Hey, I have a buddy that was born and raised in Dubai. He said that pilots are treated like sheiks there. Or I should say, WERE.

It seems like their airline is being overrun by Canadians willing to work for a mere $80K. They are taking jobs away from Middle Easterners who were looking to earn $150K to start. Concubines don't come cheap my friends.

You should be ashamed for going to another country and taking jobs away from the locals.

[Expat]

Hey, I have a buddy that was born and raised in Dubai. He said that pilots are treated like sheiks there. Or I should say, WERE.

It seems like their airline is being overrun by Canadians willing to work for a mere $80K. They are taking jobs away from Middle Easterners who were looking to earn $150K to start. Concubines don't come cheap my friends.

You should be ashamed for going to another country and taking jobs away from the locals.

They can't do, what I am paid to do...

[. ._]

Is there even such a thing as an Afghani pilot's licence?

If so, how hard is it to convert a Canadian Commercial Multi-IFR?

And is there somewhere in Afghanistan I can buy a cheap PPC to get a job?

-istp

[Expat]

Is there even such a thing as an Afghani pilot's licence?

If so, how hard is it to convert a Canadian Commercial Multi-IFR?

And is there somewhere in Afghanistan I can buy a cheap PPC to get a job?

-istp

Anything can be bought or sold...

[RB211]

They must be doing something right?

You guys need to research a little. Emirates pays zero dollars in corporate tax. They also advertise tax free salaries which are actually comparable to post tax salaries here, based on similar equipment. So they are basically saving the income tax paid by each and every pilot at other airlines.

I assume you have done your 'research'? I hope it is more than accepting, at face value, the party line as put forth by AC/ACPA.

While it is true EK does not pay Corporate Income Tax, they do pay the Dubai Government large dividends (US$1.32 billion +) from their profits. They also pay whatever tax they are liable for with respect to their foreign assets and operations. How much Corporate Income Tax has AC paid in the last few years? Being able to carry loss write-offs forward means they will be able to avoid large sums of on future profits, if they ever have any.

It is also true that salaries are tax free so EK does not pay the income tax portion of a salary that AC does. But last time I checked AC does not provide its pilots with free accommodation, paid utilities, telephone, medical/dental clinics, schooling allowance and provide transportation to/from work.

My advice to anyone who is thinking of going, do your research and be very prudent about it. I know of at least 20 past work mates who have gone there and only one or two are actually happy there. We had one guy at Air Canada who left during CCAA and as he put it, " he escaped in the middle of the night" to come back to Air Canada, bottom of the list, 750 seniority numbers later. Different strokes for different folks.

That is very good advice. It applies to accepting any job anywhere, be it EK or AC.

[North Shore]

I wonder how this mixes in:

Dubai May Defer, Cancel $29 Billion of Airbus, Boeing Jet Orders, WSJ Says

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise may defer or cancel $29 billion of orders for 200 aircraft, divided equally between Airbus SAS and Boeing Co., the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.
As an alternative, the state-controlled Dubai aircraft-leasing company may try to switch the orders to Emirates Airline and FlyDubai, the newspaper said.

The cancelation threat stems from Dubai's parlous financial state, the Journal said, adding that Dubai Aerospace, Airbus and Boeing all declined to comment.

http://www.bloomberg.com/

[TG]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10665047

Nicholas Warner is British and sleeping on the street in Dubai. He got into a dispute with his bank, Emirates NBD, initially over whether his credit card repayments had been made.

He went on holiday at Christmas and the bank says that by leaving the country without its permission while they were in a dispute, he got reclassified as a so-called "debt skipper" - one of the many expats who leave Dubai in a hurry with large debts, never to return.

When he arrived back at Dubai airport, he was arrested. His passport was seized by police on the authority of the bank.

Although he was released and tried to negotiate with the bank he got into further difficulties.

He had been working as a strategy adviser for an alternative medicine company, but his employer decided it was safer to let him go while he sorted everything out.

Emirates NBD is refusing to let his passport be released until the debts are paid. Nicholas has no way of paying them without a job. And he cannot get a job without being able to show he's in the country legally. For that, he needs his passport.

Be ready to deal with the "Catch 22's logic" in the UAE

[Panama Jack]

Any talk about economics at Emirates is pointless and any of Emirates claims of not being subsidized or having benefits that other airlines don't is just their word at best.

Yes, they publish Profit/Loss statements, but no Cash Flow statements, which is were it really gets interesting. Accountants say that Profit/Loss statements and Balance sheets are a matter of opinion, while Cash Flow is a matter of fact.

Many ways to cook a book. But I would agree with those who figure that Emirates is probably more worthwhile than a Navajo job.

[modi13]

Why is everyone getting up in arms about EK, but no one seems to be bothered by Virgin America coming to Canada and stealing market share from AC? I'm sure it's not entirely about whether or not they pay taxes. From what I've seen from the threads about EK and Dubai, there seems to be a great deal of prejudice towards the Middle East, which has spilled over into how people perceive Emirates. There still seems to be the mentality that it's a sand pit, and some posters have commented on how they would never want to live in the Middle East no matter what. I've lived there, and no, it's not a paradise of liberty, but if you understand that you're living in a different culture and that it's up to you to adapt, and not the other way around, it can be a wonderful experience. If you don't want to live in a place that has different values, fine, you're free to stay in Canada, but don't slag on an entire region and group of people because their culture is different from yours.

[CanadianIraqi]

Folks,

I think pretty much everyone got the picture on way or another; I lived in Dubai and Qatar for 7 years. Emirates, Qatar, and Etihad are just something to show off, there is a competitions between small sheikhdoms about success, airline business is one of them, none of those airlines show profit and loss, none of them has a minimum wage ( they can terrorize workers to send them back to their country and bring others cheaper) and dependent only on foreign rightless workers.

all of them are enjoying government guarantees, all are 100% owned by oil-wealthy governments. none of them worry to make balance between domestic flight sold in local currency and international flights and obligation in USD, no one is subject to profit and loss questions, all of them are asked to expand and order more airplanes. governents are not questioned on expenditure ( in this case it is buying more airplanes rather than developing local skills or even investing on environment).

Comparatively, A detached house in Calgary costs 1200-1600, a similar house in Dubai will cost around USD5000-6000. 0 (zero) social life; everyone is looking into the other from behind car glasses, as no one, or no place to walk, excpet few parks, it is considered so inferior to ride bicycle as it is only done by disgruntled unskilled workers. expat supermarket is full home brands, but double priced.

Indirect social impact (for those with families) is crazy driving in the middle of the city by young reckless pampered boys whose parents' money are enough to buy them another one in case if the car is pressed to junk by accident (no driving history check when buying car insurance). your kids will bring back all those retard lifestyle; only know how to drive cars same as what other kids and expats doing, they have no sense of what public transit mean, no idea what post office is for, tendency to spend with accountability, no summer jobs.

In case of Qatar, it is totally ashaming, air hostresses from xxxxxx in S.E. Asia are paid 40-50 % less than those from xxxxx in Europe, no leave or medical absence; they are forced to fly even if they are sick because the only recognized medical absence is from QA doctor in Doha!!!. and again, locals are pushed away from it because all foreign expats want their jobs, so locals with experience are preferred candidate to fill higher positions. in a prgram that was transmitted live on radio, one QA ex-pilot expressed his grievance because he was fired from company for landing his airplane in Muscat, before Doha, for sighting a technical issue/alarm, the termination letter states that he has no right (as captain) to take such decision.

anyone wants more info?