It's suggested in the first article that the pilot had failed to pass the necessary exams:
"The other side of the story here is that the pilot has spent the past six years completing a two year training course, and still hasn’t passed any of the tests necessary to become a pilot. The airline became fed up, and since they’re firing pilots anyway and trying to cut costs, they also decided to terminate their contract with her at this point."
By COVID standards, Qatar has actually been one of the better-off airlines in the Gulf, since (unlike the UAE) they still allow transit passengers and have been making some money flying stranded people around, even to the extent of putting on entirely new destinations like Brisbane. But obviously their business has still taken a huge hit and they've got a lot of excess capacity to shed. As always, PPrune has the goss: https://www.pprune.org/middle-east/288896-joining-qatar-airw...
But this has always been the flip side of doing business in the Gulf: you're paid well, but once you're no longer useful, you'll be discarded without a second thought. This happened during the GFC as well and there were plenty of stories of once high-flying expats sleeping in their cars.
I think this clause is standard for cadets. I don’t agree with it but I remember looking into becoming a cadet when I was much younger.
I distinctly remember EasyJet: you basically had to go to a bank to get the loan for the whole cost of your pilot training (300k GBP iirc) in your name. If you failed to pass any of the mandatory exams and steps during your training, you’d be kicked out and have to repay the loan back on your own. If you made it as a pilot, EasyJet would deduct part of your salary to pay back.
It seemed like a very shitty arrangement for the cadet/pilot wannabe where you basically shoulder most of the risk for the privilege of working as a pilot for EasyJet.
I didn’t enroll to become a pilot. I don’t regret it.
Qatar Airlines pilot requirements are ICAO ATP, which you can convert to an FAA license, or just go fly in China.
(It's more difficult to go the opposite way, from FAA to European (EASA.))
You will never hear of such a situation where the pilot is billed for ab initio training in the US because US airlines do very little such training, if any. When US airlines partner with a flight training academy, they just promise to let graduates apply. :)
Sometimes US airlines will pay for (jet) type ratings, which cost in the $20k range, and charge the pilot if they leave within a year.
This really sucks for those affected. It's one thing if an organisation chooses to stop funding their employees' education further, but to sack them and then demand compensation for what was supposed to be under "scholarship"? Ugh. Shitty.
I can't tell if you're serious, but Qatar has had a long history of migrant worker abuses and exploitation, perhaps most globally publicized due to the FIFA World Cup controversies. This Qatar Airways incident is rather benign by comparison. Migrant/foreign workers make up almost 90% of their workforce according to this article, which honestly makes much of Qatar seem dependent on something resembling indentured servitude:
that was my initial reaction, like "ok this would not stand at any court". then I realized that it probably affects employees who live and are citizens of Qatar or similar nations in which 1. I have no idea about their legal system 2. and the only idea I have from what I see in the news etc. about worker rights etc. is not the best
He has the advantage of holding the balance in his account, and this matter doesn't stick in front of any court. So good luck to QAW to see the color of this money.
"The other side of the story here is that the pilot has spent the past six years completing a two year training course, and still hasn’t passed any of the tests necessary to become a pilot. The airline became fed up, and since they’re firing pilots anyway and trying to cut costs, they also decided to terminate their contract with her at this point."
He hasn’t worked, he’s been training and dicking around. Imagine just being paid to learn about your job, without ever really producing any value, for the past seven years.
This is pretty standard in many countries and industries.
Really, we need a law that turns it into a loan automatically with reasonable terms at the end of employment. But other than that, this is no different to any other student loan. Boomers killed free education, so now everyone pays one way or another.
Actually not most countries strictly limit /regulate this sort behaviour and if your made redundant I suspect that the employer would not be able to recover anything.
Unfortunately employment practices in that part of the world are Horrific - its just normally poor navvies employed on building sites get the worst of it - see some of the coverage of the word cup construction in Quatar
>>Boomers killed free education, so now everyone pays one way or another.
This anglo-centric assumption is killing me on HN. My "boomer" parents were deep in a communist state at my age and they could only dream of the quality of life that we enjoy today. But hey they are "boomers" so fuck them, right?
gazoakley|5 years ago
https://onemileatatime.com/qatar-airways-fires-pilot/
https://viewfromthewing.com/qatar-airways-firing-pilots-and-...
It's suggested in the first article that the pilot had failed to pass the necessary exams:
"The other side of the story here is that the pilot has spent the past six years completing a two year training course, and still hasn’t passed any of the tests necessary to become a pilot. The airline became fed up, and since they’re firing pilots anyway and trying to cut costs, they also decided to terminate their contract with her at this point."
nujabe|5 years ago
growse|5 years ago
9nGQluzmnq3M|5 years ago
But this has always been the flip side of doing business in the Gulf: you're paid well, but once you're no longer useful, you'll be discarded without a second thought. This happened during the GFC as well and there were plenty of stories of once high-flying expats sleeping in their cars.
helsinkiandrew|5 years ago
Given an equal choice between buying something from two companies I'd choose the one that had been nicer to its employees and community.
Case in point - I own a (quite small) number of shares in UK retailer Hotel Chocolat. I'd probably have sold them if it wasn't for their apparently decent policy: https://www.hotelchocolat.com/uk/corona-virus-updates.html
hprotagonist|5 years ago
e.g., https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/fifa-qa...
dariusj18|5 years ago
They don't have much info about their project. I kind of assume they won't follow up.
unknown|5 years ago
[deleted]
ornornor|5 years ago
I distinctly remember EasyJet: you basically had to go to a bank to get the loan for the whole cost of your pilot training (300k GBP iirc) in your name. If you failed to pass any of the mandatory exams and steps during your training, you’d be kicked out and have to repay the loan back on your own. If you made it as a pilot, EasyJet would deduct part of your salary to pay back.
It seemed like a very shitty arrangement for the cadet/pilot wannabe where you basically shoulder most of the risk for the privilege of working as a pilot for EasyJet.
I didn’t enroll to become a pilot. I don’t regret it.
redis_mlc|5 years ago
Qatar Airlines pilot requirements are ICAO ATP, which you can convert to an FAA license, or just go fly in China.
(It's more difficult to go the opposite way, from FAA to European (EASA.))
You will never hear of such a situation where the pilot is billed for ab initio training in the US because US airlines do very little such training, if any. When US airlines partner with a flight training academy, they just promise to let graduates apply. :)
Sometimes US airlines will pay for (jet) type ratings, which cost in the $20k range, and charge the pilot if they leave within a year.
unknown|5 years ago
[deleted]
notRobot|5 years ago
Retardo_88|5 years ago
unknown|5 years ago
[deleted]
dzaragozar|5 years ago
ville|5 years ago
jonplackett|5 years ago
vinay427|5 years ago
https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-a...
deathgrips|5 years ago
gbil|5 years ago
Antwan|5 years ago
He has the advantage of holding the balance in his account, and this matter doesn't stick in front of any court. So good luck to QAW to see the color of this money.
helsinkiandrew|5 years ago
onetimemanytime|5 years ago
drevil-v2|5 years ago
xwdv|5 years ago
raverbashing|5 years ago
From what I remember this company does not get the better reviews, even when compared with other companies from the same region.
LatteLazy|5 years ago
Really, we need a law that turns it into a loan automatically with reasonable terms at the end of employment. But other than that, this is no different to any other student loan. Boomers killed free education, so now everyone pays one way or another.
a3n|5 years ago
C1sc0cat|5 years ago
Unfortunately employment practices in that part of the world are Horrific - its just normally poor navvies employed on building sites get the worst of it - see some of the coverage of the word cup construction in Quatar
gambiting|5 years ago
This anglo-centric assumption is killing me on HN. My "boomer" parents were deep in a communist state at my age and they could only dream of the quality of life that we enjoy today. But hey they are "boomers" so fuck them, right?