Riyadh Air and the new Saudi carriers: what a first cohort trainee can say, what is different, and the questions everyone asks
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#1 Riyadh, training, first cohort, and I wrote a thank you thread in the feedback board when I started. Now that I am deeper in, here is what I can say about the new Saudi carriers, because there is almost nothing online and the questions in my DMs are constant.
What Riyadh Air is
A new full service carrier based in Riyadh, launching its network in stages, with a large aircraft order and a stated ambition to be a global airline within the decade. The cabin crew recruitment has been international from the first cohort: my batch has Saudis, Filipinos, Indians, Europeans, Africans, a Brazilian. The training is being built as it runs, which is the first cohort experience everywhere.
What I can say about the training
The safety curriculum is the international standard: SEP by aircraft type, the pass marks, the drills, the pool, first aid, security. The instructors come from established carriers and the standards are the standards. The service curriculum is being written with a specific Saudi hospitality concept and it is more developed than I expected for a new airline. The facilities are new. The batch is small and close.
What is different
Everything is first. The uniform is new. The procedures are new. The accommodation is new. The route network is being announced while we train, which is exciting and strange. And Riyadh itself, which is not Dubai and not Doha, and which is changing faster than any city I have seen, and which is more conservative than either and, in my experience, more welcoming to those who respect that.
The questions everyone asks
Is it safe: yes, in every sense I can measure. Is it real: yes, the aircraft are arriving and the training is happening. What is the pay: competitive with the neighbours on the structure, and I will not give numbers because the first cohort terms may not be the standard ones. What are the rules for women: the same as the neighbours on the aircraft, and more conservative in the city, and the female crew on my batch describe it as manageable and improving. What about alcohol: not available, and the crew who need it will not be happy, and the crew who do not are fine.
Who should apply
Someone who wants to be at the start of something and is comfortable with the uncertainty of that. Someone for whom Riyadh's conservatism is home or is acceptable. Someone who wants a short seniority list, because at a new airline everyone is senior in two years.
Who should not
Someone who wants a settled operation with a known culture. Someone who needs the Dubai lifestyle. Someone who wants to know exactly what the roster will look like, because we do not yet.
I will keep posting from inside. The next cohort deserves more than I had.
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#2 Riyadh, at the established Saudi carrier, and Hassan's description of the city is fair: conservative, changing fast, welcoming to those who respect it. The new carriers are hiring aggressively and the seniority point is the real one. Everyone is senior in two years.
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#3 Cairo, applying, and I applied to Riyadh Air because of Hassan's first thread and I am at the video interview stage. The 'first cohort terms may not be the standard' warning is fair and I have read the offer language carefully.
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#4 Gulf Air, and the Saudi carriers are the thing the whole Gulf is watching, because the hiring is drawing crew from all of us. A short seniority list at a growing airline is the most attractive thing in aviation. Hassan is at the right place at the right time.
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#6 Durban, and Riyadh Air was not on my list and I am adding it after this, with the conservatism understood and the uncertainty accepted. A short list at a new airline is a different kind of opportunity.
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#7 Qatar, and two crew from my base have left for the Saudi carriers in the last six months for the seniority and the money and they report exactly what Hassan describes: new, real, conservative, exciting. The Gulf has a fourth and fifth option now.