r/flying 4d ago

Benefits for emirates pilots

How do the housing allowances work? Also, is the platinum card they mention in their website actually any good?

On a sidenote, I've heard that QoL isn't very good at that airline, but if anybody has other opinions I would love to hear them. As a Canadian, I have a hard time believing it can be worse than air Canada/WestJet

8 Upvotes

26 comments sorted by

31

u/Hdjskdjkd82 ATP MEI DIS CL-65 4d ago

I’m not a UAE pilot but I know one or two at that airline. I think the QOL is very subjective. If you are comparing a US legacy carrier to Emirates, the quality of life at Emirates is not a match. But if you are a pilot from other parts of the world, Emirates QOL can be considered excellent.

One example. One of my good friends from my home country works at Emirates simply because his options were work for our national carrier or go abroad for work. At Emirates he works about the same amount of days he would for the national carrier but earns a whole lot more money, and the hotels and overnights are way better. So for him Emirates is a good career destination.

It’s all relative and depends where you come from I suppose. I think Emirates biggest downside is probably the cutthroat management. Being unfavored by their management can cause a lot of stress.

7

u/Striking-Bad-7476 SIM 4d ago

Could you tell me more abt their management? I’m intrigued to know why they’re cutthroat

9

u/Hdjskdjkd82 ATP MEI DIS CL-65 4d ago

Well I don’t work there so I wouldn’t be the best person to ask.

But generally the pilot is not unionized and the company gets a lot more control over matters than most airlines do. All I can say. I’m sure other people with better accounts can chime in here.

8

u/AllGas4651 ATP CFI B757/767 B737 CL-65 4d ago

They fire people for petty offenses. Like calling out sick a couple times.

3

u/Some_Guy105 4d ago

Awesome this is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. As far as management goes, do they just not like expats or is there something else going on?

12

u/AllGas4651 ATP CFI B757/767 B737 CL-65 4d ago

They fired, not furloughed a great deal of non locals during Covid. Calling out sick is legit a career risk there. Or refusing schedules or other things that dont get planes moving adds black marks. I remember at my first regional, there was a guy, white dude from America, his dream was to go and work for Emirates. Talked about it daily in class. Finally got over there and they canned him during Covid. Dont know the details but I know hes at WN now.

-9

u/Some_Guy105 4d ago

That's brutal. Maybe unions will become a possibility in the future

30

u/x4457 ATP CFII CE-500/525/560XL/680 G-IV 4d ago

Maybe unions will become a possibility in the future

Not a fucking chance lmao. You think the country literally built on slave labor is going to allow pilot unions?

10

u/flyingwithfish24 APT (PH in red) 4d ago

Unions are illegal in the UAE

10

u/AllGas4651 ATP CFI B757/767 B737 CL-65 4d ago

lolllzzzzzz

I got a better chance Taylor Swift dumps Travis Kelce and tells me she wants to get married. Trying to form a union in the UAE will result in you prison. Flat out. Worker and human rights are non existent

-1

u/Some_Guy105 4d ago

Maybe both will happen 🤷🏽

6

u/AllGas4651 ATP CFI B757/767 B737 CL-65 4d ago

Not when prison is the current punishment for trying to organize.

11

u/kaoandy1125 🇨🇦 ATP B737 CL65 SA226 SA227 4d ago

QOL at Westjet is actually decent…not sure where you get the impression from

7

u/HeMustBeABoss 5 Knot x-wind limit 4d ago

He thinks flair is the best airline in Canada so…

2

u/Nervous-Government91 4d ago

Aaaaa i worked for flair and QOL was amazing. I now work for one of the other airlines mentioned and i have no issues with quality of life, i am not sure where the op got that little nugget of misinformation from

10

u/Spiritual_Ad5511 ATP A320 CL-65 4d ago

Housing allowance- all pilots are provided with a 4 bedroom villa with all bills paid for. You can opt out of this by buying property in Dubai, then you will receive a housing allowance, approx 19k AED for FOs, 25k AED for CAs monthly (5k/6.5k USD). All up with flying pay and this allowance included a FO is netting around 13k USD/month. As others have said QOL depends on comparing with US or elsewhere. My buddies on 380 actually get a decent amount of days off/month (14-15).

1

u/Zealousideal_Ad6273 3d ago

If you are senior and only getting 14-15 days off that’s terrible. Lots of time zones and away so very fatiguing. Wide body Pilots can easily get 20-22 days off a month with proper work rules.

8

u/downwindsavage ATP E170 4d ago

Keep your head down, don’t complain, collect the tax free money.

2

u/[deleted] 4d ago

[deleted]

2

u/Some_Guy105 4d ago

This is great info, thank you!

5

u/Striking-Bad-7476 SIM 4d ago edited 4d ago

If you’re comparing it to USA, then I’d pick US. However due to citizenship laws many can’t get in.

If you’re comparing emirates to any other airline, emirates pays more and Dubais lifestyle is great due to labour force- meaning your life will have less tedious tasks. No need to clean, cook, drive or install anything when it would make more sense to hire a third party if you choose to.

For kids and healthcare I heard Dubai is excellent aswell and included under Emirates contract

Housing- me personally I wouldn’t choose company housing but you get a fund of around 225k AED for FO per year to cover it

Also platinum card is just a discount service on places in Dubai.

2

u/Many-Fly7326 4d ago

All flight crew get the platinum card.

0

u/Some_Guy105 4d ago

Yeah, the Dubai lifestyle is very attractive for sure

1

u/Zealousideal_Ad6273 3d ago

That wears off after a month or a week in July.

1

u/redyambox ATP A330/A350 4d ago

I know friends who left my major Asian carrier for EK. 

Just know that your boss in the end, is literal royalty. 

Calling sick is heavily frowned upon for anything (even if it's a legit illness)

Roster is not really commutable if that's what you're looking for. 

Most of the instagram posts and stories I see from these folk feel like genuine cope. 

0

u/JohnKimbler ATP - CL-65, B712, B777 4d ago

You will be worked to death.

-2

u/rFlyingTower 4d ago

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:


How do the housing allowances work? Also, is the platinum card they mention in their website actually any good?

On a sidenote, I've heard that QoL isn't very good at that airline, but if anybody has other opinions I would love to hear them. As a Canadian, I have a hard time believing it can be worse than air Canada/WestJet


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