Have no doubt that EK will continue to pay as little as possible for as much work as can be extracted (standby for the 1000hr FTL) and from the accountants point of view this makes perfect sense.
Any potential for meltdown has been deferred by the non appearance of the 380.
Talking up by Ed is likely to be bluster and is unlikely to be followed by any meaningful action.
Standby for.........no change at EK.
(Do the trainers really need more remuneration? Seems that everybody and their dog is joining training right now. And no wonder. Saw one training roster for December, 14 rostered days off in the month including one block of four days and another block of five days off over the 25th, no leave taken.)