ph-ndr

Here's an interesting writeup of how it is to be QR staff; Swedish is not my native tounge, but Google Translate will do a decend job:

http://www.expressen.se/nyheter/sann...-pa-qatar-air/

-A

gottaluvNW

Has this been covered in other media across the world as well?

Googling for more info, I found this:
http://dohanews.co/union-qatar-airwa...gulf-carriers/
http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulli...mployee-rights
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO131...d-alliance.htm

I feel like canceling an upcoming QR flight next month...

tboons

how about Singapore Airlines?

quite similar to QR policy, you have to resign when you get pregnant

remymartin

Very interesting article. Very unimpressed with QR.

kaka

also very unimpressed with SQ.

i wonder why the western democratic world does not give a cr@p about these stuff. im not surprised china and singapore goes silent, but the rest never said anything. look at how qatar got the world cup.

InternationalLiving

The article actually made me feel quite ill. Qatar are like the Stasi... actually, possibly worse. At least the Stasi didn't tell you who you can and cannot visit.

If my upcoming trip was not booked as a promo fare I'd definitely cancel. My trip in April will be on BA or CX now - and the only reason to try Qatar in the future will be to sample the A380 and A350, and burn my miles in J. Otherwise I'm done with them.

Feroze

I had read about these working conditions before I took my first QR flights at the end of last year, courtesy of Avios. When I discreetly asked about company morale, the cabin crew on my short haul from CMB-DOH were all very positive.

Remember, nobody is forcing the employees to work for QR. They contracts are signed, having been read (hopefully) and accepted by those wishing to be bound by its terms.

InternationalLiving

What, and you expect them necessarily to openly tell the truth at risk of being fired?

I have friends though recently saying that they have heard complaints from crew, who perhaps weren't so afraid to mention something. I think the very high staff turnover rate only points towards this bad treatment.

After all, what would make you think that a country that employs slave labour to build their skyscrapers and stadiums would treat their other foreign workers all that much better?

BlackBerryAddict

There's an english version of the article as well: http://www.expressen.se/nyheter/the-...qatar-airways/

Very chilling reading indeed...

kmcbrid2

This is why I could not get mad at the ground staff in Qatar when I was there. Can you imagen working under these conditions and then having to try and deal with all QR's angery pax each day because canceled and delayed flights?

But this is the case even up to white collar jobs in Qatar. If you work for a QR company and want to go work for another company in Qatar you have to get your current QR company to release you. However, instead of releasing you the QR company will cancel your contract and your on a flight home. I know 2 first hand accounts of this happing.

ACARS

Yes, true it is a Swedish tabloid rag, but i wonder how much truth there is to this article?
http://www.expressen.se/nyheter/the-...qatar-airways/

SeeBuyFly

Does this topic really need multiple threads? I assume mods will merge.

I cannot verify the facts but the article rings true. Qatar is stuck between a modern world that allows and expects women to have jobs, and a primitive, until-recently-nomadic culture where any woman with a job and freedom is potentially a prostitute.

Franky I am not so bothered by monitoring of the FAs' private lives. It's what you get if you choose to work for a society that disapproves of western values and of women. But western employees have choices, they are not forced to work there.

I am much more concerned about the near-slavery of South Asian workers all over the Gulf, hinted at but not really explored in the article. I don't know what to do though; practically everything I buy is made by people working in slavelike conditions in China and elsewhere.

RUN4FUN

I have known QR from inside and out for more than 10 years, and sadly enough there is no reason to doubt these stories. There is of course sunshine, but in general this article point out some of the challenges who holds QR back from becoming truly 5* all over. Not all comes down to AAB in person, he has after all pushed QR further than anyone would believe when they got started, but a lot of the insane management acting also has to do with a few of the executives who are shadows of the past. AAB know how to kick a**, but there is a couple of big ones he has missed...

Mod: please merge?

ACARS

Apologies for not noticing the earlier thread. Loooong day at the office. Mods please either merge or delete. My thoughts go out to the modern day slaves of Qatar.

Regs,

ACARS.

LonghornDXB

A lot of it is true, and there is a reason why so many prefer to work for EY/EK over QR