JM,
Thought about a sarcastic reply and thought better of it. AUH is not a bad place, more "local" than DXB but still not so bad. You will be safe anywhere you walk at any time of night wearing whatever you want. There are plenty of bars down there and most are OK from what I've heard. DXB would be the better place to go to though. AUH has great sailing and lots of very nice islands off it which the expats go to for camping and BBQ etc.
Back on topic again and I may be very ignorant in what I am about to say but it wouldn't be the 1st time and wont be the last:
It appears the DEC are coming in to fill the extra aircraft brought in on short notice. It would have been great had training been up to speed but wasn't. This seems to be the crux of the problem. Hopefull ythis will resolve itself and when the rest of the orders start to come in the number of DEC ill slow and those moving right to left will increase. I hope it works out for you all, it's a great country to be in and all in all I find EK not such a bad place to be.
Desert Nomad