EgyptAir 787 and the Africa network from Cairo: the national carrier that Egyptian applicants overlook, the pay, the staff travel and why some of us stay
-
#1 EgyptAir, Cairo, four years, the 787 and the Africa routes, and Ahmed wrote the staying versus the Gulf decision. This is the airline itself, because every Egyptian applicant on this forum is applying to the Gulf and most have never considered the carrier at home.
The airline
Egypt's national carrier, Cairo based, a Star Alliance member, with a fleet of 787s, A330s, A320neos, 737s and the A350s arriving, and a network to Europe (most capitals), the Gulf (every city), Africa (a real network: Lagos, Accra, Nairobi, Addis, Johannesburg, Entebbe, Kinshasa, Douala and more), Asia (Bangkok, Guangzhou, Tokyo), and North America (New York, Washington, Toronto). The Africa network is the thing nobody outside knows about.
Recruitment
Egyptian nationals, in rounds, with Arabic and English required and a third language an advantage, the reach, no visible tattoos, a university degree preferred, and a medical at the airline's own centre. The process is a national carrier process: paperwork heavy, slow, and personal in the way a state institution is. Training at the EgyptAir academy in Cairo, thorough on safety, formal on service.
The pay
In Egyptian pounds, which is the reason for the Gulf exodus: modest, with layover allowances in the destination currency that are the real income for the international crew. A month of New York, London and Lagos is a good month in dollars and euros; a month of domestic and Gulf turnarounds is a poor one in pounds. The senior international crew do fine. The junior domestic crew do not.
The staff travel
Star Alliance interline, the EgyptAir network at ID rates, and a Cairo hub that connects to most of the world. The crew who use it well do Europe on a two day block. The family tickets are generous by national carrier standards.
Why some of us stay
Cairo as home with the family close, which the Gulf commute threads make sound easy and which is still not the same as living there. The Africa flying, which is unlike anything at the Gulf carriers: real layovers in real African cities with the EgyptAir crew who know them. The Star Alliance network for staff travel. The state employment stability, for what it is worth. And, for some of us, the pride in the national carrier that the MEA thread describes for Lebanon.
Versus the Gulf for an Egyptian
The Gulf: five to eight times the money, housing, the world, the distance, the accommodation rules, the Cairo commute. EgyptAir: home, the pounds, the Africa network, the slow promotion, the state culture. Most apply to the Gulf. Some, like Ahmed and me, did the Gulf assessment and stayed. The reasons are always family and always personal.
For Egyptian applicants
Apply to EgyptAir as well as the Gulf. If the Gulf comes first, take it; the EgyptAir experience is respected at the Gulf events and the reverse is true. If EgyptAir comes first, fly the Africa routes for two years and then decide. The 787 to Lagos at 2am with an EgyptAir crew is a specific kind of flying and I would not have missed it.
-
#2 EgyptAir, and Ibrahim has written the airline I stayed for. The Africa network is the thing: Lagos, Accra, Nairobi with crew who know the cities. The Gulf crews see the hotel. We see the city.
-
#3 Emirates training from Cairo, and I did not apply to EgyptAir because nobody in my applicant group did. Reading this, the Africa flying is a real reason and I should have. The Gulf was my choice and it is right for me. The home carrier deserves the application.
-
#4 Cairo, reapplying to the Gulf, and EgyptAir is now on the list. The pounds are the problem. The Africa network and home are the answer to a different question. Both applications in.
-
#5 Ghana, and the EgyptAir crews on the Accra route are the ones who eat at the local places, not the hotel. Ibrahim's description of the Africa flying is what we see from the ground. Real crews in real cities.
-
#6 Qatar from Alexandria, and I chose the Gulf and I read this with the specific respect the Egyptians in the Gulf have for the ones who stayed. The Africa flying is the thing we gave up. The money is the thing we got.
-
#7 Kuwait Airways, and the Egyptian crew at Kuwait Airways who came from EgyptAir are the best on the Africa turnarounds because they did the Africa network properly first. The home carrier trains the region.
-
#8 Sudanese at Qatar, and the EgyptAir Khartoum and Africa flying was the airline my family used for decades. The crew were the standard for the region. Good to read it from inside.