Emirates Is Reducing Some Flights Because Of A Pilot Shortage

I knew about 5 pilots at Emirates...all but one are gone, and two of them were -777 captains, and one was a -777 captain/tre. About 10 years ago Emirates was a very nice job. About 5 years ago, it was OK. Now it is bad. Bonuses have been halted. Pay has not gone up. The money to pay for your kid's schools has not gone up, while the tuition has skyrocketed. Dubai has had inflation, so your EK dollars buys less. The ONLY base to live in is DXB, which is a no go for many people. The rosters are not good, vacation cancelled or moved involuntarily, pilots leaving, so the remaining have to fly more, so more leave, so more flying for the remaining. EK is in a downward death spiral. Three pilots flying Ultra Long Haul legs is a recipe for disaster. In the US, any leg over 12 flight hours REQUIRES four pilots!!! For EK to get back to a top-tier airline, they will need DRASTIC measures. Much more pay and much better terms and conditions, much better schedules, etc., etc. Basing in DFW/LAX/FRA/CDG/LHR/SYD would help a lot!!! I used to like Emirates, and I hope they can pull out of it. Until then, I will try my best to only fly on Qatar Airways, when I need a ME carrier.

The pilot shortage has been years in the making, they were warned by Fleet managers, and Recruiting, they were warned by training and the manufacturers. But as pointed out in the above comments a single senior individual interferes with recruiting, rostering and training and is solely responsible for the position they now find themselves. Anyone who has ever read a Druker or Stephen Covey book on management would see this as textbook case of why big companies fail. Drucker : “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Covey: the P/PC Balance.... the farmer has cut open the goose that laid the golden egg, to get all the eggs at once. It is a shame on a epic scale

@James I don't think you understand what is happening here. Emirates is canceling routes (not just individual flights) due to an inability to staff the flight deck. It's not a temporary miscalculation. This means more pilots are leaving than joining, and those pilots leaving are at all seniority levels, they are not retirements. This is not supposed to happen at a global airline flying wide body aircraft. When an airline becomes understaffed in this way they roster the pilots to fly the maximum. Since there are relatively few limits on flight and duty time in the UAE this makes the quality of life almost unbearable for the pilots still on property and increases their motivation to leave. After this happens, word gets out and Emirates's reputation as a career destination is toast. It's not all about pay. Emirates pilots are some of the most experienced in the world. They are very much in demand. Also, take a look at some of the latest safety mishaps at Emirates in the last few years. The errors associated with these mishaps are tell tale signs of fatigue and undertraining (ie. selecting feet instead of meters in Russia and not setting thrust for a go-around leading to a hull loss). If the rumors are true, instead of addressing the underlying issues in the airline that lead to these mishaps...the pilots involved were simply terminated.

P.s James implying that Pilots shouldn’t complain because they get paid more than Cabin Crew is f’ing stupid.

As an Emirates pilot, let me add some comments: 1) Management deceptively include the hundreds of Emirati cadets working their way through the system - years from being online. Therefore the immediate deficit is 400. Head in sand. 2) There are currently more pilots leaving than joining - it is actively getting worse. 3) Rather than address problems raised to attract/retain pilots, they dictate HR to target Venezuela and other desperate countries for low-hour turboprop pilots. Literally what is happening - which leads to... 4) Failure rate in interview process is sky high - due to targeting those inexperienced pilots who can’t speak English properly. Which lead to... 5) All Recruitment Pilots quit after being pressured by clueless management to ‘pass’ people who cannot fly a plane, or communicate. Literally they are now having to hire recruiters. 6) Emirates has such a bad reputation in the flightdeck of other airlines, that the ones who are interested often ‘no-show’ for induction. How is it all such a train wreck? Emiritisation. People promoted into positions they have no right occupying - all yes men working under the totalitarian regime of one nasty inept man. Our version of QR’s Al Baker. A man for example, who recently failed to come to a pilot forum run to find out why pilots are leaving in droves.... he only came when his presence was questioned (so he wasn’t busy) he walked in, shook the hand of the other Emirati onstage, ignored all Western Managers onstage... then sat in the front row with his back to the audience playing on his phone for the remainder of the session. Total disrespect to us - even whilst cancelling flights - and though the western management is trying to help us, all proposals have to go through him... so it ain’t happening. They genuinely see us as Donkeys the be flogged. They survive by snapping up pilots from failing airlines, now the economy is doing well, that pool of unemployed pilots doesnt exist. Given this, coming up to the usual summer exodus - kids finished school, bonus collected, and ofc the heat - the actual deficit is set to soar - and more flights will be cancelled. 95% Pilots spend their time at work moaning. It’s not a pleasant atmosphere. So 400 immediately needed, just to get back to break even legal maximums where they don’t have to cancel flights. They have already pulled every trick in the book to squeeze productivity, things that would never be allowed in a Western airline. All in a profession which has a lead-in minimum time of 6 months. 3 notice, 3 training. And where the recruitment pilots have quit... The only way out is for the Sheikh himself to step in and remove this individual - who has now set up walls of protection around himself. Until that time, expect many more cancellations to come.