I spent a decade there, overall a positive experience personally, made plenty of cash tax free which would have taken much longer to accumulate back home.
Managed to visit many places around the world and saw sights I never thought I would visit, but pre-covid I always made myself try to visit at least one thing on the basis I may never get the opportunity again.
The flip side was that every year, EK took something away be it the salary step, accommodation options /refurbishment,profit share, or some sort of staff travel restrictions, and lower standards of layover hotels- some really dreadful.
For any new joiners you will have the option to move into the Meydan Pilot Metrocomplex or else buy somewhere if you are feeling very brave financially. You will have to buy all your appliances plus a car if you live at Meydan.
You will get a roster which has a random set of destinations and if you are really lucky or personally related to the Indian roster guessing team, might have one of your chosen bids each month.
Be prepared to work most Christmas and New Years. When I asked one habibi, who had 4 weeks off over Xmas whether he might opt to work over Christmas to enable expat colleagues who celebrate the occasion he was unmoved and stated "we like to give each other gifts too".
The roster changes frequently and you get last minute blocks of 8 available days allocated which changes at short notice and belies you to check your roster after 6pm every evening to find out if you are flying off at 2 am the following morning.
Commuting home is essentially impossible due to overbooked flights pre-covid and the company checks that you have arrived back into Dubai and had enough rest before you next sign on for work, necessitating an early return from leave to ensure you are not invited in for a chat and a warning letter.
You are supposed to get 42 days of leave a year. EK are the only airline I have ever worked for who did not honour that, and on one occasion (pre-covid)did not even grant the legal minimum of 30 days off in a year. Something to consider if you want to try and go home to visit your family.
Overall I am glad I had the experience but like "Wiz" I wouldn't do it again.
To everyone still there, I sincerely wish you a very merry Christmas.