I attended a meeting not long during which the Director of Safety for one of the GUlf airlines was explaining that the pilot shortage at his airline was so critical that they were routinely pairing Captains with Captains, and that that in turn was presenting new problems for them. The competition for pilots between the major Gulf airlines (Etihad, Emirates, Gulf etc and some others) is so intense that certain airlines amongst those mentioned are seen as second or third choice.
OH