I am an ex-EK employee, not a pilot, presently pursuing a Masters in AirTransport Management. I find this thread interesting as it deals mainly with EK. As a ex-employee, i believed EK was a nice co to work for then whole of 90s, i left EK because i suspected its potential to grow, i have been fascinated by EK's growth since leaving. In college i've had discussions with Marketing managers from Airbus who claimed EK would be the premier airline of the world and how the world would travel via DXB. I strongly believe that EK has been successfull till date wholly and solely because of the Indian sub-continent. Maurice Flanagan had identified the unfullfiled demand for a good service airline connecting the large migrant population from the ISC to mainly the west. EK has successfully filled this demand, in the abscence of viable airline from any of the 4 countries, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Srilanka. In the case of SL they have also acquired the management of the national carrier, PIA and BIMAN are now up for grabs.
However to spoil EK's party, EY and QR have the same ambition and India its cream market, now has a robust aviation industry awaiting the clearance to fly international early this year. The following report by IATA and many such avail freely, leads one to believe humbly that i was correct in my decision to leave EK. DXB has created a leasing co, the shiny jets can always be sold to the leasing co to recover the costs, however a lot of folks will be made redundant before that.
http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles.../10093144.html
Airport capacity warning