Laid off QR pilot owes airline 591k QAR for training?
May 9, 2020, 2:26 pm
#1
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Laid off QR pilot owes airline 591k QAR for training, likely for not completing it
EDIT: Apparently there is more to this story, namely the employee in question may not have completed a 2 year training in over 6 years since beginning it.
Saw on instagram that apparently a pilot at QR was laid off this week, which is understandable. The company is asking her to repay almost 600k QAR ($162k USD) in training costs. That seems absolutely bonkers to me.
Is there something I'm missing, or is that a standard practice in that region, even if the person leaves the company through no fault of their own?
Saw on instagram that apparently a pilot at QR was laid off this week, which is understandable. The company is asking her to repay almost 600k QAR ($162k USD) in training costs. That seems absolutely bonkers to me.
Is there something I'm missing, or is that a standard practice in that region, even if the person leaves the company through no fault of their own?
Last edited by lowfareair; May 11, 2020 at 8:12 am
May 9, 2020, 6:20 pm
#3
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She's apparently been training/working for Qatar since October 31, 2013. Much or all of the training cost should have been worked off during the last six and a half years.
IIRC LH has a pilot training program. I wonder how their terms compare.
IIRC LH has a pilot training program. I wonder how their terms compare.
May 9, 2020, 6:38 pm
#4
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I don't know about the contracts QR lets their staff sign, but this sounds pretty much lunatic to me.
May 9, 2020, 11:36 pm
#6
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May 10, 2020, 12:24 am
#8
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Aren't many many of the ME3 on-board crew (pilots and FAs) not from the Arab countries? I suppose English is the lingua franca that the ME3 uses for employment agreements, policies, announcements, you're fired letters, etc.
May 10, 2020, 12:57 am
#9
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There is much more to this story than that single letter, but I am not allowed to share the other info I've been relayed.
It's poor PR for QR, but I dare say there will be repercussions for the employee.
In terms of the Training Debt, it is quite normal for Flight Crew to carry that debt with them to different airlines - it gets paid off over time, and if an airline needs flight crew they will usually offer to pay any existing training debt (EK and many China based airlines operate like this).
M
It's poor PR for QR, but I dare say there will be repercussions for the employee.
In terms of the Training Debt, it is quite normal for Flight Crew to carry that debt with them to different airlines - it gets paid off over time, and if an airline needs flight crew they will usually offer to pay any existing training debt (EK and many China based airlines operate like this).
M
May 10, 2020, 2:00 am
#10
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590k QAR equals to 130k GBP and one of my friends went through LH training school coming out with 150k EUR debt.
So practically the lady needs to repay the whole debt she has despite flying for QR for 7 years?
I think there is much more behind the story and I think it would be far too simple to only point to local employment standards many in this forum consider as overly bad (I lived there for 2 years and it was a great experience).
So practically the lady needs to repay the whole debt she has despite flying for QR for 7 years?
I think there is much more behind the story and I think it would be far too simple to only point to local employment standards many in this forum consider as overly bad (I lived there for 2 years and it was a great experience).
May 10, 2020, 2:11 am
#11
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according to some Instagram posters (so only rumors)
"they asked to recoup money was that she got married not long after finishing training and they her husband refused to allow her to fly and the airline had no choice but to terminate. Allegedly not covid related. I can’t say for sure this version is correct but it came from someone out there."
another one:
"It seems that the lady,never started her line training...she got married,husband didn’t want her to fly anymore,she asked for office job,they declined,she never resumed any duty,and never flew on the line,end of the story"
"they asked to recoup money was that she got married not long after finishing training and they her husband refused to allow her to fly and the airline had no choice but to terminate. Allegedly not covid related. I can’t say for sure this version is correct but it came from someone out there."
another one:
"It seems that the lady,never started her line training...she got married,husband didn’t want her to fly anymore,she asked for office job,they declined,she never resumed any duty,and never flew on the line,end of the story"
May 10, 2020, 3:19 am
#12
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True but I know Qatar encourages letters to be sent in Arabic. For example, if we send a letter that is being signed by our Qatari MD to another Qatari company, the letter must be sent in Arabic. I imagine even a termination letter being sent from a Qatari company to an employee who's first language is Arabic would also be sent in Arabic.
May 10, 2020, 3:22 am
#13
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There is much more to this story than that single letter, but I am not allowed to share the other info I've been relayed.
It's poor PR for QR, but I dare say there will be repercussions for the employee.
In terms of the Training Debt, it is quite normal for Flight Crew to carry that debt with them to different airlines - it gets paid off over time, and if an airline needs flight crew they will usually offer to pay any existing training debt (EK and many China based airlines operate like this).
M
It's poor PR for QR, but I dare say there will be repercussions for the employee.
In terms of the Training Debt, it is quite normal for Flight Crew to carry that debt with them to different airlines - it gets paid off over time, and if an airline needs flight crew they will usually offer to pay any existing training debt (EK and many China based airlines operate like this).
M
May 10, 2020, 4:31 am
#14
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May 10, 2020, 4:52 am
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If you pay a closer attention to the notice, you should be able to see that she would be paid for 7 additional days from the day of notice. While I am not familiar with Qatari law, AFAICT, if she was summarily dismissed for cause, she wouldn't get that 7-day pay.
That 7-day pay makes a factual difference in term of termination reason.